THE BUSINESS OF EDUCATION - International Indian

[ BOLLyWOOD PROFILE ]
A Vocational Actor:
Anupam Kher
“I find that many acting schools have remained in a kind of traditional
time-warp. Our lives and times have changed, as have our interests, our perspectives
and outlook. Our way of expressing has changed. We Indians can be subtle and
we can be exaggerated, so the style of acting must change too.”
[ By AMITA SARWAL]
In Singapore to stage Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta
Hai (Anything Can Happen) after having
performed over 200 shows globally, the
actor talks about his play and his acting
schools. Casually dressed in jeans, opencollared
white shirt, light blue jacket, and
sneakers – and his signature smile – he greets
me warmly in the lobby of Holiday Inn Park
View while heavy rain lashes the city under
darkened late-morning skies.
Bollywood’s Anupam Kher is the first actor
in the world to monoact his autobiography
on stage. In fact, he wrote to Guinness World
Records to include him for this feat – but they
said they had no such category [yet].
He recalls, “There was an offer first from
Penguin, and then Harpers Collins, to
write my autobiography. I started collecting
material but you need a writer who vibes
with you. Somewhere through my writing,
because most of what was coming up was
very visually oriented, it dawned on me that
as I am an actor, I must ‘perform’ my life.
“I am an optimist. I would initially narrate
my life’s incidents in a drawing room of 10-20
people. Most of the episodes were funny, even
my disasters and failures because I found that
takes the burden off the people that they are
not supposed to laugh at failures. I perceived
when a successful man talks about his failures
it gives people courage to talk about their
personal failures without the fear of failure.
Anupam Kher: If I’m known more as an educationist than an
actor, I’ll be very happy.
“The theatre being a means of direct
communication was where I had to perform.
Yet the thought of acting in front of 500-600
people repeatedly over a period of time was
frightening. At that point I was going through
a low phase in my life. But once I did my first
show in 2003 the response was phenomenal
and I discovered that though it was my story
a lot of the audience could identify with it.
The play talks about one’s dreams, fears and
aspirations, and about love. The maximum
audience I have performed for was in front of
7,000–8,000 people outdoors at Goa during
the 35th International Film Festival 2004.”
The choice of director Feroze Khan (Tumhari
Amrita) was natural as Anupam had worked
with him in a previous play Saalgirah (2001).
“There was a comfort level. Besides he is
very talented and understands the medium of
theatre very well. All these factors combined
[to select him]. I could have directed the
play myself but as it was my life I needed an
objective point of view.”
Part of the reason to perform was
“certainly to get back to theatre. I did this
play when I was not feeling very great about
myself. I wanted to do a play which became
my source of income because I had decided
that I would only do certain kind of films
henceforth. But it was equally important for
me to continue with my standard of living.
I did not think the play would be a great
success but God was kind and it was well
received by the audience.”
Anupam continues, “Each episode is
absolutely bang on because I am making fun of
myself. It is brutally honest. Of course, to make
it entertaining one has used a kind of flavour,
but the incidents are absolutely true.”
Ashok Patole and Feroze [Khan] did the
re-writing and condensed eight tapes of
conversations into a two-and-half-hour play
and it had to have a format. The narrations
start from his childhood and end on a certain
note, after that the milestones in Anupam’s
professional life are updated on a slide.
Talk then turns to Anupam Kher’s
Actor Prepares (www.actorprepares.net):
When did he realise that there was a need
for a good film acting school in India? “I
always felt it. I am from a drama school so
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THE INTERNATIONAL INDIAN