I deserved more recognition for Daddy: Anupam Kher
It marked actor Pooja Bhatt’s acting debut and gave actor Anupam Kher his first National award. Daddy, the 1989 Mahesh Bhatt directorial, completes 28 years today. Reminiscing those days that are still fresh in his mind, after nearly three decade of its release, Kher says the film is and will certainly remain one of the 10 best films of his life.
“Honestly, I was in the middle of doing lots of things at that time, with almost 3-4 shifts in a day, running from one set to another and Bhatt saab came up with this script, which I thought was brilliant. We shot the film in a record 28 days,” Kher says. Though Kher, then 34 years old, won a National Film Award (Special Jury) for the portrayal of an alcoholic man in Daddy, he feels he deserved a lot more than that. “I believe that I should have got the National Award for Best Actor not just the Jury Award. I remember I was in my house when I got a call in the night and I was very thrilled,” he says.
Speaking about the rat race for awards that existed even then, he says, “I think it was important for me because I had not got it for Saaransh (1984) and being from the school of drama, I’ve always understood the importance of a National Award. When one gives his life to a role, one must expect that he’ll get an award for it, so I was looking forward to it.”
On what made Daddy a high point, Kher says it was a combination of a lot of things. “Daddy was an unconventional take on a father-daughter relationship. You can’t have every performance as a masterpiece. Daddy is a milestone.”
Ask him how it was to act with a newcomer Pooja, and Kher says, “I’m very fond of Pooja and I’d met her when she was 3 or 4 years old. She was one of the few first actresses, who were very real in real life and on screen also. She is charming and doesn’t have to try to be so.”
Sharing some anecdotes from the set, Kher recalls, “The speech at the end and the ghazal song, Aaina Mujhse Meri Pehli Si Surat Maange, were so moving that Pooja, actually broke down.” Kher feels there was a pain on the face of the characters in the film that stayed with the audience. “You can’t do that in every film. That’s why these are called landmark films,” he says.