Anil Kapoor gets emotional about Tom Cruise

Anil Kapoor and Tom Cruise are in Dubai today (December 7) for the world premiere of their new movie 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol', and at a press conference at Burj Khalifa this morning, it was plain to see that the friendship between the stars is getting stronger. In fact, Anil Kapoor got so emotional describing the experience of working with Tom Cruise that he was almost close to tears!

The Bollywood star told Masala.com, “It was the greatest joy to work on the film with Tom Cruise. They’ve been the best days of my life and I will cherish those moments for the rest of my life. I mean that.”

Awww! Anil’s certainly made a connection there, and the outpouring in Dubai today follows the sentiment that he displayed while Tom was in India to promote Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol earlier this week. Masala.com has been reporting on how Anil and his family - wife Sunita and daughters Sonam and Rhea – played hosts to Tom on his trip to India. Tom and Anil seemed practically joined at the hip as they visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, partied with Bollywood A-listers and rocked at the film’s Mumbai premiere.

Anil even got Tom to say his own trademark Bollywood phrase ‘Jhakaas’ at the Mumbai premiere of 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol'!

A significant part of 'Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol' is set in India, but those scenes were actually shot in other locations, including the new Zabeel Saray hotel in Dubai. At the 'MI4' press conference in Dubai, we asked director Brad Bird why they hadn’t filmed in India, and here’s what he told us. “Our very talented production designer found Zabeel Saray (in Dubai) even though it was not quite open yet. Basically, any move in a film takes a big financial toll. So if you can find a location that works well and is closer, it’s a bonus.”

Tom Cruise added, “We were disappointed as we always want to film in the actual places that we feature, but that’s the nature of films.”

We had to ask Tom Cruise what it was like shooting those amazing scenes for the film at the Burj Khalifa, where he abseils off the world’s tallest building. The superstar revealed, “The first couple of times I just kept slamming into the building - it was difficult to work out how to avoid hitting the building head-first.”

Tom also showed off his bravery, with a cheeky sense of humour. “I am not afraid of heights - I am afraid of falling!” he joked.

Tom put his faith in preparation more than hope though. “I trained for months, and I had the team build model sections of Burj Khalifa, which I climbed for hours and I had the temperature of the building tested to see if it was going to burn my skin.”

He continued, “The difficulty was getting the shot for Brad (director) – his shots are so beautiful, so that was the hard part, to keep it elegant. If I turned too quickly I went headfirst into the building. I knew people were worried but I know how good my team is and I knew was safe.”

How did Tom’s wife Katie and daughter Suri handle him doing those super-scary stunts? Well, it wasn’t all pretty. Tom said, “Katie knows I like climbing and hiking and climbing and riding motorcycvles. She is so supportive and helpful. I couldn’t do what I do without her.”

But Brad Bird interjected, “Katie and Suri came in when we were filming Tom falling from the building. They were there for two takes and then Katie was like, ‘Okay, we’re done. We’re going shopping.’ It is too upsetting. It really is nerve-racking to watch.”

All of the UAE will be waiting for the experience though. Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol has its world premiere in Dubai tonight, and Tom Cruise will be on the red carpet starting 5pm. For details on the opening night gala, visit www.dubaifilmfest.com