Veteran Film actor Anupam Kher has been appointed the new chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). The 62-year-old Anupam Kher has acted over 500 films and many plays.
Here are 10 other things to know about the new boss of FTII:
1) Anupam Kher during his struggling days as an actor had spent days sleeping on railway platforms.
2) The veteran actor has appeared in international films such as Bend it like Beckham, Lust, Caution and much more including Silver Linings Playbook that was nominated for eight Academy Awards.
3) He is the alumnus and a former chairperson of the National School of Drama.
4) Anupam Kher was honoured with the prestigious Padma Shri in 2004 and with the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his contribution in the field of cinema and arts.He has also won National Film award twice till date. Kher was honoured with a 'Walk of the Stars' and his handprint is preserved for posterity at Bandra Bandstand in Mumbai. Kher was awarded 'Honoured Guest' by the US state of Texas for his contribution to cinema and art.
5) He is married to Kirron Kher, an actress as well as a Bhartiya Janata Party MP from Chandigarh. Kirron Kher was earlier married to Gautam Berry. Anupam and Kirron had already known
each other at a university in Chandigarh when they were involved in theatre. Later Kirron divorced her former partner and married Anupam.
6) In 2015, Kher had criticised writers, artistes and filmmakers who had returned their awards in protest of the atmosphere of intolerance in the country, calling them the 'Award Wapsi Gang' and insinuating that they had an agenda. The issues flagged by those who returned their awards included the killing of Mohammed Akhlaq, a Muslim senior, by a mob on suspicion that he had stored and consumed beef, among other things. Those who raised the issue of intolerance also expressed solidarity with FTII students who had protested the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's director at the time. Kher led a march against those raising the issue of intolerance in the country.
7) A staunch supporter of the BJP, Anupam Kher also made the headlines for his controversial statement against leaders of the saffron party at a Telegraph National Debate on Intolerance in 2016. He said that Yogi Adityanath and Sadhvi Prachi should be thrown out of BJP and jailed.
8) Before winning the Padma Bhushan himself, Kher had trashed all awards in 2010 (when the UPA was in power), saying, "Awards in our country have become a mockery of our system. There is no authenticity left in any one of them. Be it films, National or now Padma." But when he won the award in 2016, in a contradictory tweet, he said, "Happy, Humbled & Honoured to share that i have been awarded The Padma Bhushan by the Govt. of India. Greatest news of my life:) #JaiHind."
9) In 2016 Kher made his first fiction production named 'Khwaabon Ki Zamin Par' airing on Zindagi channel. He also hosted 'The Anupam Kher Show- Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai', a talk show that aired on
Colors TV. The show featured new celebrities in every episode.
10) Anupam Kher has also written a book titled 'The Best Thing About You Is You!'