I am not Kurosawa or Satyajit Ray: Anupam Kher

Questions almost become redundant with celebrated actor Anupam Kher. The man, whose solo stage show Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ran for over a decade, can deliver a monologue on any subject. And, as his upcoming film Tanvi The Great, with which he turns to direction after 23 years, is ready for theatrical release this Friday, you can only expect a torrent of thoughts.

First things first. The story of an autistic girl, Tanvi, is rather personal to him. One anecdote he never tires of telling is how when he saw his autistic niece staring into the vacuum, her repartee, ‘I am looking into my world’ set him thinking. Does he understand her world better now? He quips, “The world will certainly understand it better.”

But when the subject is so personal, isn’t there a danger of losing objectivity? He insists, “The character is real, story is fictional.”

In fact, it talks about a young autistic girl’s desire to join the Army, which as of now has no room for such a person. Since the film has got a rousing reception during its special screening for Army officers and their families, does he think this would bring about a policy change? He replies, “That is not my job.”

But to bring awareness certainly is. He does not consider autism a disability; rather deems it a superpower. Indeed, bringing this story of ‘heart and courage’ to light required more than gumption. How the film was almost not made is chronicled in his book, Different But No Less. Even though his producer backed out before the shooting started, Anupam never considered cutting corners. Made with a budget of Rs 50 crores, he has on board two Oscar winners, music composer MM Keeravani and sound editor Resul Pookutty. Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen was cast since Anupam’s association with him goes back to acting in the BBC series Mrs Wilson. His reasons for roping noted Japanese cinematographer Keiko Nakahara were simply, “I wanted a sensitive woman as DoP to capture the soul of the film and purity of my protagonist.”

Since his lead heroine Shubhangi Dutt is a debutant and rest of the cast comprises fine actors like Boman Irani, Arvind Swami, Jackie Shroff, Pallavi Joshi, Karan Tacker and he himself, how did he make Shubangi feel at ease? He says, “I made her spend 15 days with my niece and on the sets all actors worked to boost her confidence.” Today he goes on to hail her as “the discovery of the decade”.  As for the experience of directing himself, actor of over 500 films, “It wasn’t difficult at all, for I knew the story backwards.”

Cinema for Anupam has the magic of truth and of make-believe truth. “I am not a Kurosawa or Satyajit Ray, only I wanted to make a pure film,” he says. Those who think he has taken a big risk by releasing the ‘Tanvi The Great’ in cinema halls at a time when few films are working on the box-office, well he who has been in the industry for over 40 years has heard this lament zillion times. For him Tanvi The Great has already worked. Apart from winning plaudits at prestigious venues like New York Indian Film Festival, it was appreciated by none other than his friend Hollywood legend Robert De Niro who promised to watch the film for 10 minutes but watched it till the interval point at the Marche du Film (market section) in Cannes Film Festival.

An exceptionally busy actor seen recently in Metro… in Dino in a key cameo, there was no personal compulsion for him to make a film except, “I believe in goodness, in motivating people.” Here’s to the power of inspiration.