Bollywood star Anil Kapoor had to convince studio bosses to plough big money into an Indian remake of 24 to match the impressive scale of the original U.S. Tv series.

The actor plays Jai Singh Rathod in a role similar to Kiefer Sutherland's famous counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer in the reboot, which is set in Mumbai.

Kapoor, who is also the show's producer, wanted to bring the "discipline and professionalism" of the American thriller to his native country after playing Middle Eastern President Omar Hassan in the eighth and final season of Sutherland's 24 in 2010.

He tells Reuters, "The written material was already there, but I needed to get an international scale and feel... Everything is about money today. I can't tell you about the budget but I can say that we are trying our best to have the same scale. That was the major thing, the biggest hurdle to cross. Convincing the channels (executives) that this is what it is...

"When I went to the (U.S.) shoot, I was totally taken aback by the scale. My only experience of an international film at that time was Slumdog Millionaire which we shot in India. Now I was shooting in America... It was much bigger than Slumdog - vanity vans and cars and the whole paraphernalia. It was huge... like shooting a big commercial film."

Kapoor admits he has taken a big risk by adapting 24, but adds, "Whatever I have done in my career - you like something, you go for it. You stick your neck out and I have stuck my neck out. I am not playing it safe, I am playing the lead. And I'm a movie star... It's a challenge."