Anupam Kher

Biography

Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director, and producer who works primarily in Hindi language films. 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. The Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution to the field of Indian cinema and arts.
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 Lust, Caution (2007), David O. Russell's Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and Anthony Maras' Hotel Mumbai (2019).
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. 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.
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.
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 lost 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 on several other projects. All of them were moderately successful but his performance in those films was not well received. 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 1985, he married actress Kirron Kher who is a Member of parliament from Chandigarh, belonging to the BJP. Her son, his stepson, is actor Sikandar Kher.
In 2010, he was appointed as the goodwill ambassador of the Pratham Education Foundation, which strives to improve children's education in India. Kher is an ardent supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On 20 September 2021, Kher was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Philosophy of Hindu Studies by the Hindu University of America.