Anupam Kher’s role as a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in 
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara fetched him a National Award

Anupam Kher recently celebrated 25 years of presence in Indian cinema. A journey that began with Mahesh Bhatt’s Saraansh has now turned full circle with the release of Morning Walk on July 10 where Kher, now 55, plays a role similar to the one he played in Saraansh, when he was 28. Kher has come a long way from his roots in Himachal Pradesh to flowering as one of the most versatile and gifted actors in Bollywood today. He has taken the brunt of public censure during his tenure as Director of the Central Board of Film Certification. He has been placed in charge of the directorship of National School of Drama, and has produced meaningful films over his span in the film industry. With around 400 films, Anupam has few peers in the industry. In terms of numbers, there are many who will race him to reach the finishing point, but in terms of the quality, for him, there is no finishing point.

"I have two other releases on July 10. It’s a Mismatch is in English and Sankat City, in Hindi," says Kher. "I have become just that wee bit choosy," he informs with reference to his recent films that have focussed more on his histrionic versatility than on the comic or the villainous that was once his oeuvre in Bollywood. "I call acting a science because it can be researched, experimented, learnt, taught and perfected," he says.

"In It’s a Mismatch, I play an NRI, father of Konkona Sen, the typical Punjabi who does not want her to marry Boman Irani’s son, played by Anubhav Anand. In Sankat City, a comedy that portrays a realistic picture of Mumbai’s underbelly, I play an underworld don within an ensemble cast. In Morning Walk, I play a lonely old man who lives alone and then forms a bonding with his granddaughter, played by Avika Gor, a fantastic actress," says Kher.

Of his recent films, he is proud of A Wednesday, where he plays a serious, committed police commissioner intrigued by threatening calls from an unnamed terrorist played by Naseeruddin Shah. He loves to talk about his role in Khosla ka Ghosla, a black comedy where his role is a serious one, and of course, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, directed by Jahnu Barua, that fetched him a National Award. For this film, Kher read up a lot on Alzheimers, the disease the character he played was afflicted by. I talked to psychoanalysts, went to mental homes to meet patients. There was one man who thought he was a postman. Another imagined that his wife was his sister. A third would suddenly get up from his seat and begin to walk very fast. Based on this, we began to add some distinguishing physical features to the character," he details.

Says Kher, "Saraansh was a gift from heaven for a new actor. It offered all possibilities and shades to be explored by a debut-making graduate from the National School of Drama. In theatre, we were used to doing larger-than-life roles. It gave me not only the best opportunity as an actor but also a new direction to my life — as an actor and as a human being. I seem to emulate many of his characteristics and his values even today. As a struggling actor, I had no place to stay in Mumbai, so the film was a life-and-death question for me. I modelled the character on my grandfather who was alive when the film was being made. He was a man of principles inclined to spiritualism. This is Bhatt’s best film till date."

His acting school, Actor Prepares, founded some years ago, now has branches in Chandigarh and London. Among celebrities who have attended his workshops and training are — Abhishek Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone.

There is another side of Anupam Kher not many of his fans are aware of. He founded the Anupam Kher Foundation as "a tribute to countless destitute, nameless children who lie all around us yet never too close for us to feel their pain." Through this journey, "I try to bring happiness in the lives of children and ensure that they become agents of change in the society as they grow along the years. Its School of Life Programme is meant for children from low-income families from the age group between eight and 16 to provide good quality education. The Apaar programme is based on the thought that medical care has a limitation, but there are no limits to taking care of a person who is seriously unwell. This initiative that involves networking with the medical fraternity and institutions is directed at giving a better quality of life to children and adults deprived of the joys of life due to life-limiting diseases," he sums up.

HOME