KAHANI KHER SAHAB KI JAB WOH PEHELI BAAR MUMBAI AAYE THE AUR AAJ JAB DUNIYA KO USNE APNE MUTTI MEIN KAR LI HAI ( AAJ MAY 25 KO UNKA 38 SAAL PUR HO CHUKE HAI AUR UNHONE 524 FILMON MEIN KAAM KIYA. HAI )..... BY ALI PETER JOHN

I was invited to see a play called “Desire under the Elms” at the Prithvi Theatre by a woman who told me that the main actor in the play was an actor from the NSD, who was eager to see me as he was my admirer and had one ambition and that was to see me and met me if possible - Ali Peter John

Like was my “policy”, I decided to see the play to know who this actor was. I had never seen him before and he had only heard of me and had read my articles and my columns, Ali’s Notes

The play was over and I saw the actor asking for me. When I went up to him and introduced myself to him, he couldn’t believe that I was the Ali Peter John he had heard of.

He told me that he was looking for me in the audience more than performing and was disappointed not to see anyone who he imagined could be Ali. That evening was the beginning of a very long relationship which I hope will continue in spite of all the ups and downs of life…

I have seen Anupam from the time when he lived in a dingy little room in a large slum called Kherwadi and giving tuitions to slum children to pay monthly rent of Rs 13/- which he had to share with three other roommates and his address read, Anupam Kher, Kherwadi, Kherwadi PO, Bandra (E).

He had just two pairs of white kurta pyjama and walked all the way to Prithvi Theatre to follow his dreams to be an actor in Mumbai.

From that slum I saw him move to a housing board flat in Shastri Nagar, Santa Cruz (E) and from there to a Ramshackle bungalow which was in a dilapidated state, again in a dark room which he shared with two other actors, his brother, Raju who used to work in a tin factory earning 10 rupees a day with which the two brothers managed to survive mostly on daal chaval and sometimes rajma chaval.

He next moved into a better apartment on Hill Road and now has a secretary called Ashok Punjabi, a driver called Shaikh and a spot boy called Dattu, who is still with him after forty years.

I remember how when he had first tasted success, he had taken me for dinner at The Great Punjab Hotel on Linking Road and how he kept standing up to see if the crowd recognised him and was gloriously happy when people recognized him as the actor from “Saaransh” a bus full of actors were going for a public meeting at Chowpatty.

Anupam made sure that he got a window seat and even though the actors were not supposed to look out of the windows, Anupam kept breaking the rule just to see if the crowds outside waved out to him or he waved out to them. He had tasted stardom for the first time.

He was to do his first scene with Dilip Kumar in Subhash Ghai’s “Karma”. He asked me to be with him as he was feeling very nervous. It was time for the scene between Dilip Kumar and Anupam and he was so nervous that his hand started sweating and he didn’t have the courage or confidence to go to the sets.

Ghai came to his room and saw his condition and asked him to go home. Anupam felt he had lost a great opportunity and a major film which could change his career. Ghai told him that he was not going to throw him out from his film and asked him to report for shooting the next day.

The Anupam Kher who started shooting for Karma was a very different actor and his role as the bad as bad can be Dr. Dang shot him to fame and he was a star in his own league.

The adventurous and ambitious Anupam went on to start his own entertainment company, his acting school, he took to directing a big film which failed, he was the anchor of several big shows, he had written a motivational book, he had done a one man show on stage, “Aise bhi ho sakta hai” which was the story of his own life. He had done more than 500 films in forty years.

He has now made a place for himself in Hollywood and has some of the biggest stars there as his colleagues and friends and spends more time in Hollywood than in India.

All this was and is very fine and I feel very happy for that innocent boy from Shimla who once believed that beer was a poisonous drink and had it after mixing it with water.

But, it is what he is being associated with during the last two years that is disturbing. He has been dabbling with the kind of politics and politicians which I don’t feel is good for an actor of his calibre.

I personally feel hurt when he is called a boot licker and a chaatukar. He may have his own reasons to do what he is doing, but as a witness to his rise from nowhere, I seriously and sincerely feel that he should concentrate on acting which is his forte and not to try and conquer other forts.

I will always wish Anupam well because I think I know the soul of Anupam and I hope that he doesn’t compromise on sell his soul for temporary benefits and permanent loss of the immense talent he is blessed with and with which he can give the world much more than what he can as a politician which i believe is not his real cup of tea