Anupam Kher

Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi-language films.

Considered one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, he has played a variety of characters including numerous critically acclaimed leading or parallel roles.

His accolades include two National Film Awards and eight Filmfare Awards.

Kher was born on 7 March 1955 in a Kashmiri Pandit family in Shimla.

His father, Pushkar Nath Kher was a clerk in the forest department of Himachal Pradesh and his mother, Dulari Kher was a housewife.

He was educated at D. A. V. School in Shimla.

He studied economics at Government College, Sanjauli at the Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla, but dropped out to study Indian theatre at Panjab University, Chandigarh.

In 1978, Kher graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi.

Some of his early roles were in plays performed at the Himachal Pradesh University.

He taught drama in Raj Bisaria's Bharatendu Natya Akademi in Lucknow for a small part in his directorial debut movie Sheeshay ka Ghar.

In his struggling days as an actor in Bombay (present-day Mumbai), he slept on a railway platform for a month.

Kher made his acting debut with Mahesh Bhatt-directed drama film Saaransh (1984), which marked Kher's breakthrough role, Kher's performance earned him widespread praise and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of an elderly father.

Since then he starred in several other supporting roles.

In 1984, Kher made his acting debut in Hindi films with the Mahesh Bhatt-directed drama film Saaransh, in which he portrayed a 65-year-old retired middle-class teacher who loses his son.

The film was a moderate box office success though Kher's performance earned him widespread praise.

He won a number of awards for his portrayal of the elderly father, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

Kher said that he lost his hair at a young age, and, thus, his first role was playing a 65-year-old at the age of 29.

From 1985 to 1988, he continued to work in several other projects.

All of them were moderately successful but his performance in those films were not well received.

He was highly appreciated in negative roles in films such as Karma (1986), Tezaab (1988) and ChaalBaaz (1989).

For Vijay, he won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance.

However, Kher's performance as Shyam Lal, a man whose daughter is forced to dance to make money for him, in N. Chandra's action thriller Tezaab (1988), which was the top-grossing film of the year and co-starred Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit, was highly appreciated.

Later in 1988, his performance in the poorly-received Vijay was praised too, winning him a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1989, Ram Lakhan garnered him wider recognition for his comic performances and won him Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role and for Daddy, he received universal acclaim and won a National Film Award – Special Jury Award and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance.

Kher's career improved in 1989, when he received wider recognition for his performances in Ram Lakhan, a thriller by Subhash Ghai, and Daddy, a television film that reunited him with Bhatt.

The former co-starred an ensemble cast including Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff, Dimple Kapadia, Raakhee, Satish Kaushik, Amrish Puri and Paresh Rawal, and featured Kher in the supporting part of Deodhar Shastri, a man who disapproves his daughter's marriage with her childhood friend who is also her love interest.

Ram Lakhan proved to be the second-highest-grossing Hindi film of the year with a gross of over inr 326000000 worldwide.

The latter earned him universal acclaim, with several critics calling it his best performance at that point.

Both Daddy and Ram Lakhan earned Kher several awards; for the former, he won a National Film Award – Special Mention and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance; and for the latter, he garnered his first Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role (shared with Kaushik), also known as the Filmfare Award for Best Comedian.

Later in 1989, Kher starred in a sequel to the 1986 fantasy film Nagina, entitled Nigahen: Nagina Part II.

In later years, Kher was nominated for Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for films such as Dil (1990), Saudagar (1991), Lamhe (1991), Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994), Chaahat (1996), Special 26 (2013) and Uunchai (2022).

He nominated in category of Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role for Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin (1991), Shola Aur Shabnam (1992), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge (2000), and won for Khel (1992), Darr (1993) and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995).

Besides working in Hindi films, he has also appeared in international films such as the Golden Globe-nominated Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Ang Lee's Golden Lion-winning NC-17 rated Lust, Caution (2007), David O. Russell's Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and Anthony Maras' Hotel Mumbai (2019).

The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of Indian cinema and arts.

Kher's other acclaimed roles include Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), Buddha Mar Gaya (2006), A Wednesday! (2008), Baby (2015), M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016) and The Kashmir Files (2022); for which he nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

Kher was appointed Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in October 2017.

His appointment was controversial, given his support for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

A year later, he resigned as the chairman of the FTII, citing his work commitments for the American TV show New Amsterdam.

He received a BAFTA nomination for his supporting role in the British television sitcom The Boy with the Topknot (2018).

He has previously served as the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification and the National School of Drama in India.