Before Rome banished me, I banished Rome

In addition to reaffirming his stance on the award wapsi issue, actor Anupam Kher talks about his love for theatre, desire to work in regional cinema, upcoming book and more

Anupam Kher, who opined that a dialogue should have taken place instead of award wapsi, led a counter march along with fellow writers and artistes against alleged “rising intolerance” near Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Saturday.

In his brief stay in Hyderabad earlier this week, he stated in no uncertain terms that the “award-wapsi” campaign was to defame the country by projecting a “wrong” picture of the situation. “Instead of returning the awards, a dialogue should have taken place,” he states.

Dwelling on celebrities and film personalities being selective in their public statements, Kher feels that one should think before they speak. “When you are popular, well known and the whole world loves you, it’s your responsibility to think before you utter a word. Public statements can ruffle a lot of people or instigate a lot of people. I try my level best and make a conscious effort not to say anything that would instigate people,” he says.

Finding fault with artistes returning awards and their statements, Anupam Kher says that onus is on the award-wapsi gang to justify their mode of protest. When asked if his protest march will disappoint film fraternity, Kher said, “Before Rome banished me, I banished Rome.”

Narrating a personal incident, the veteran actor said “My grandfather wrote me a letter at an early stage of my career, when I was looking for work and I was sleeping on the railway platform in Bandra East, Mumbai. I wrote to him saying I was feeling humiliated both as a person and as an educated actor – that I am a gold medalist from a drama school and this city was humiliating me.

I said that I don’t want to stay here anymore and am planning on securing a job as a teacher in Shimla, Lucknow or Chandigarh or anywhere. He wrote back a very nice letter to me saying that my parents have worked hard and I have worked hard.The very last line of the letter was, ‘Bheega hua aaadmi barish se nai darta’ (An already drenched man need not be afraid of getting wet in rain).

“I have done enough work and I am not scared ki mujhe filmein nahi millengi (that I wont get films). I can earn even on the streets. Sometimes, your conscience tells you that you should speak up for some issues. For me, the symbol of courage is the picture of a soul man standing in front of the tank or that of a Tank Man. Whenever I feel low or discouraged, I think of that picture, which is an amazing symbol of courage,” Kher avers.

The actor said that he would love to work in Telugu cinema. “I love the people here, I would love to work here. I have only done one movie called ‘Trimurtulu’ where I donned the role of an antagonist. I think they are making wonderful films. There is one amazing Malayalam film ‘Pranayam’ - it is in my top 10 list of best movies. I think I have to move on from Bollywood for some time to do that kind of films and find work in regional cinema,” he smiles.

Admitting his love for theatre, the veteran actor said that he is busy with his autobiographical plays ‘Kuchh Bhi Ho Sakta Hai’ and ‘Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha’. Between the two plays, my life is booked,” shares Kher.

Anupam Kher said that he wanted to share the stage with his wife Kirron, but it hasn’t happened because of Kirron Kher’s prior engagements with her party work. “We were very much interested to work together in ‘Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha’, but it couldn’t materialize. We have a wonderful team including Neena Gupta; she is fantastic in the play. I have a good rapport with Rakesh Bedi; we have been working together since long - We have travelled so much together for 26 shows and 46 days in America,” shares Kher.

Commenting on the youth of today he says, “I have great faith in today’s youth because they are born in complete independent India. They don’t have any pre-independence or post independence blues. Our parents were from pre-independent time, and even though I was born post- independence, we were told to be diplomatic; not to do this or that or not to talk bad because we still had that hangover.

The youth of today is born in a free India. They may come across, at times, as irreverent, but it is a much more honest generation than ours or our parent’s generation.”

Despite his theatre and books, he still finds time for his films. Anupam Kher dubs working in the upcoming film ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ as an aesthetic experience. “Doing a film with Rajshri and Suraj is very aesthetic as a human being or a person.

You see the film and you will love it. Salman is brilliant in the film, I worked with him after such a long time and it was fabulous. And my scenes with him are quite funny. I am also working on ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ directed by Neeraj Pandey. I am writing a book titled, ‘Lessons Life Taught Me Unknowingly’,” he signs off.