The circle is far from complete, I am somewhere in the middle”, says Anupam Kher as he celebrates four decorated decades in the film industry. The veteran’s journey in Bollywood began as an experiment; a 28-year-old who decided to play a 65-year-old bereaved father in Mahesh Bhatt’s Saraansh. Now, at 69, Kher has decided to tackle the subtext of age being just a number in his latest film Vijay 69.
Directed by Akash Roy, the film sees the actor in the role of Vijay, a widower who takes on the daunting task of competing in a triathlon. The biggest obstacle is his entourage of so-called supporters, who chide him with the obvious: he is too old for it. “It’s very fascinating that I get to do a film where the hero is 69.
The whole definition of what makes a hero is changing, and it needs to change. A hero is not always someone who can fight, and break into a song. Rather, a hero is somebody who breaks his image and pushes the boundaries.
I have approached all my characters as if they were the heroes of the stories because that’s how I look at my own life and journey...
as a hero.” Kher is as enthusiastic as Vijay. The actor reveals that he took swimming lessons for the film and worked on his physical training.
“It is wonderful to keep rediscovering and reinventing yourself. I have always strived to be different, and that comes to the fore in the way I approach the parts given to me,” he says. The classic rags-to-riches story of a small-town boy from Kashmir who a.
