ANUPAM KHER IS FTII CHIEF

NEWDELHI/MUMBAI: Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher was on Wednesday named chairperson of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, after his predecessor Gajendra Chauhan’s tenure ended in March.

The 62-year-old actor, who has worked in more than 500 films and over 100 plays in the past three decades, was conferred the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.

Speaking to HT, Kher said, “I feel a sense of responsibility… I can only take my experience of being an Indian and an international actor for 45 years and walk with the students, and not go there with the tag of being somebody who is known. I want to make a difference by giving them a different platform to do innovative things. It’s a great sense of achievement to be the chairman of the institute where you did your training. I spent six months at the institute in 1978.”

“I’m not going with the baggage of being Anupam Kher, but will utilise my experience as a theatre artist, teacher and a motivation speaker to be a friend and father figure to students,” he said.