The first time I met him was around 1982: He walked in confidently into the Times of India newsroom, loomed over my Remington and announced, “I’m Kher, Anupam Kher.”
“So?” I mumbled at this I’m-Bond-James-Bond style of self-introduction from a youngish man wearing a beret from which strands of red-shaded hair sprouted. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m from the National School of Drama. My film Aagaman is up for release. It’s been directed by Muzaffar Ali,” he beamed.
“So?” I asked darkly.
“So nothing,” Kher, Anupam Kher wilted.“Just dropped by to say hello.”
“Hello! Thank you and good luck.”
“Thank you for your time,” the visitor’s ingratiating smile evaporated. He left crestfallen. My colleagues commented,“Must be wanting publicity, yaar. Why were you so rude?”
I wasn’t actually. I had to see this Aagaman – a Muzaffarian account of the impediments in setting up a sugar-cane farmers’ cooperative – before going waah waah. As it happened, the film wasn’t a classic to put it politely. Neither was the Bollywood aspirant any great shakes.
And the last time I met Anupam Kher, was last month at a special noon screening of Aligarh. In between ’82 and 2016, of course there have been scores of conversations and interfaces with the actor who turns a year older today.
Unarguably, he has made an unerasable mark on the B-town firmament, as a character actor, his performance graph topped by Mahesh Bhatt’s Saaransh. The small-budget film’s producers, Rajshri Pictures, had insisted on casting Sanjeev Kumar. The director had argued that he needed a relatively malleable newcomer. By one of those quirk of circumstances, the decks were cleared for Kher, his hair was completely shorn, no more berets.
At the age of 28, he portrayed a bereaved 60-something parent with tremendous conviction, prompting Dilip Kumar to endorse his acting abilities. Dilip Kumar has rarely done that. Here was an endorsement more precious than any award. The thespian and the Saaransh actor went on to spar as a reformist cop and the deathly Dr Dang in Karma. An endless harvest of A-list movies with Yash Chopra,the Barjatyas and other movie moghuls were inevitable with success.
Cut back to last month. After the Aligarh screening, before whizzing off in an SUV, Kher stopped me for a handshake and the regular parting line, “It’s been ages, we must meet soon.”
To be honest, I’m not so sure about following up on such an old boys’ reunion. For sure, an interview or even a casual chat over coffee, would be unpleasant (for me at least). Without a sliver of a doubt, I have come to respect Anupam Kher the actor but not Anupam Kher the de facto politician, a twitteroholic-plus-public elocutor who snipes away at anything (yes, anything) connected with the bugaboo of ‘intolerance’.
He extols the ruling government ceaselessly, snipes at easy targets like Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, displays contempt for the students of the Film and Television Institute of India when they go on strike. JNU’s Kanhaiya Kumar doesn’t escape his radar. Neither does the perspective of Justice Ashok Kumar Ganguly when he criticises the Supreme Court judgement on the Afzal Guru case.A debate which could crystallise into positive conclusions are not the actor-quasi-politician’s forte. To have an opinion is fine, to be aggressively opinionated isn’t.
When Anupam Kher is awarded a Padma Bhushan, social media networking sites are awash with his earlier comment that he cares a fig for awards bestowed by the government per se. The man’s double standards runneth over.
I’m more than aware that these are touchy points to bring up on the actor’s 62nd birthday, but then life isn’t always a bouquet of roses. The gravitation towards politics is entirely his, an area where angels fear to tread. By no means, can the immersion in politics be ascribed to the fact that his wife Kirron Kher is an elected member of Parliament from Chandigarh. From what I’ve sensed over the decades, she has a mind and will of her own. They pursue their independent callings.
As an actor, there’s a perceptible sense of unease in Anupam Kher, if not utter disenchantment today. He sleepwalked through Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo, as a servile aide to Salman Khan’s princeling. Sporadically, he fetches up in B-grade comedies and has been-there-done-it-all. Challenges of the acting kind are tightly shuttered.
The endeavour to turn director (Om Jai Jagdish) was decimated by typical diktats of a hyper-commercial Bollywood producer. And the bid to turn to production with three films after his heart (Bariwali, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Maara, Tere Sang) have been uneven. Well-meaning intentions have been thwarted.
Yet he is capable of springing surprises, like authoring the self-improvement book The Best Thing About You is You. That the title itself points towards narcissism, is besides the point.
Fortunately, Anupam Kher’s school of acting, ‘Actor Prepares’, continues. Some satisfaction and self-esteem must have been derived from appearances, too, in high-profile international films, notably David O Russell’s Oscar-festooned Silver Linings Playbook, besides Woody Allen’s When You Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Ang Lee’s Lust Caution and Gurinder Chadha’s Bend it Like Beckham. As for hosting TV talk shows, it’s been all quiet on that front lately.
Above all, the acting instinct has been kept alive on stage. House full shows at home and overseas are guaranteed whenever Anupam Kher returns to the theatre floorboards. While most of his peers have stage fright, he’s at ease before a ‘live’ audience. His most impactful theatre renditions have been in Salgirah, the autobiographical struggle-to-stardom solo show Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hain, and the nostalgia-oozing Mera Woh Matlab Nahin Tha.
Would Anupam Kher solicit publicity before a journo sitting before a comp today? My guess is, no he wouldn’t. Because if unpleasant questions are asked, he wouldn’t be tolerant and leave in a huff. Back in 1982, it was another story.
(The writer is a film critic, filmmaker, theatre director and a weekend painter)
(This story is from The Quint’s archives and was first published on 7 March, 2016. It is being republished to mark the actor’s birth anniversary.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)