Kapoor excited, nervous about 24 debut

Actor Anil Kapoor has made an assured and credible debut on US television with a two-hour season premiere of the drama series 24.

Playing president Omar Hassan of a fictional Middle Eastern country, Kapoor's was a largely swift performance, laboured somewhat in a place or two by the inherent unfamiliarity with geopolitical issues.

On balance though, Kapoor slipped into the frenzied world of Jack Bauer like a consummate professional.

Hassan is presented as a transformational leader who is the only hope for stability in the volatile region. Inevitably, Hassan's peace moves have not gone down well with his detractors who have hatched a plot to assassinate him in New York.

"I researched all the speeches of all these great leaders from Mahatma Gandhi, to [Nelson] Mandela, Martin Luther King, [Barack] Obama and [Bill] Clinton," the New York Post quoted Kapoor as saying.

"Not only was I excited that I was doing 24, but I was also anxious and nervous that I was doing something for the first time in my life."

Kapoor was all praise for his co-star Kiefer Sutherland, saying that it was an "amazing" experience working with him.

"If I was in his place, I would have been bored and tired after working the same role for years. But it seemed every day it was the first day of the shoot for him," he said.