Anupam Kher didn’t end up becoming an actor in films right after graduating from the National School of Drama in Delhi in 1978. Interestingly, he completed a three-month massage course, gave professional massages for a short while, and eventually, even provided his services to his co-stars on film sets.
“I’d completed my formal education. I was sitting in the Bengali Market (in Delhi) not knowing what to do. Then I saw an ad in the newspaper of a massage course at the Oberoi Hotel. I did a three-month massage course and then gave massages for two months,” revealed Kher.
On the latest episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show season 3 on Netflix, Anupam Kher recalled giving massages to his co-stars between takes on the sets of Mukul Anand’s 1991 crime action drama Hum. “Right after giving massage to Danny (Denzongpa) and others, when I began doing the massage of Shilpa Shirodkar’s mother, there was an electricity cut,” said Kher.
“Shilpa’s mom kept saying, ‘Oh, Anupam!’ so Amitabh said, ‘Bhaiya, light jaldi le kar aao (Please get the lights back on quickly),” recalled Kher, laughing, revealing how Bachchan was embarrassed by the sounds Shirodkar’s mother was making then. Host Kapil Sharma even joked that the Saaransh actor was giving massage to others only so he could get to Shirodkar’s mother. Kher denied that and jokingly warned Sharma to not suggest the same.
Hum starred Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Govinda, Shilpa Shirodkar, Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, Kadar Khan, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Khote, and Shammi, among others. It’s best known for its dance song “Jumma Chumma De De,” featuring Bachchan and Kimi Katkar. Shilpa Shirodkar’s mother Veena Shirodkar was a former model who passed away in 2008.
Meanwhile, Anupam Kher was on The Great Indian Kapil Show along with his co-stars and director to promote their upcoming romantic anthology Metro… In Dino, slated to release in cinemas on July 4. Produced by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, the spiritual sequel to Anurag Basu’s 2007 directorial Life… in a Metro also stars Neena Gupta, Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Ali Fazal, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Rohan Gurbaxani, and Saswata Chatterjee, among others.
Watch interview with Metro… In Dino actors Neena Gupta and Anupam Kher:
In an exclusive interview with SCREEN, Kher recalled when he first moved to Mumbai to become an actor back in 1981, the city has held him captive since. “Mumbai is a very intoxicating city. It’s like a security blanket. There’s no other city in the world, other than New York to an extent, which is so generous. It gives at least one chance to everyone who comes here. It’s true that if you’ve lived here, you can’t live anywhere else. It’s truly bindaas,” said the actor.
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“But Mumbai is very dominating in the beginning. Because you’re part of the crowd. But any kind of a person can live here. I haven’t seen anyone starve to death here. Someone was telling me vada pao has been one of the top seven meals of the world. I’ve had so much vada pao myself,” he added.
