‘THROUGH MY VIDEO, I WANTED TO FOCUS ON HOW IRRFAN AND RISHI MADE SO MANY PEOPLE HAPPY’
Actor Anupam Kher was “shaken” by the recent news of actors Irrfan and Rishi Kapoor passing away. But instead of dwelling on the sadness of the situation, Kher decided to celebrate the lives of the two accomplished actors, just like he did when his own father passed away. In a new video of the series called When Bittu Meets Anupam, Kher has paid a tribute to Irrfan and Kapoor. He decided to focus on the fact that both the late actors “made so many people happy”.
“I don’t want to call myself a celeb during this time. Now, you have to be a responsible citizen of the country, and inspire people. One day before Irrfan [passed away], my yoga teacher’s husband died, who had also been my class fellow once. And then, Irrfan and Rishi went away. I was shaken. When somebody passes away, you suddenly realise the futility of life and success.” says Kher.
Emphasising on how the late actors touched several lives, Kher adds, “It was difficult to make this video because it was sensitive. Film waalon ko aise hi bolte hain ‘yeh toh film waale hain’, but film waalon ne desh ko jod kar rakha hai apne tareeke se.”
A couple of episodes of the series where Kher is seen in double roles are already out, and have garnered a good response. We ask the 65-yearold what prompted him to start this series, and he says it was the “lockdown”. “I didn’t want it to define me, so I decided to do something creative. The philosophy of life needed to be said in a different manner, and I got an idea. There is always an alter ego in you. As we grow, we try to suppress that person who helped us become who we are today, but I have always kept that small-town boy alive in me,” he says.
In the videos, the veteran actor plays a character inspired by him as well as his alter ego, who have a chat with each other. He says he learnt how to shoot it by searching on the internet, and is helped by a friend. Kher shoots the respective portions in one go. “I take five-six hours to rehearse and execute it. I formulate the entire thing in my mind, and keep rehearsing,” he signs off.