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All love and Kher
Kirron and Anupam Kher - perfect company.
By RANA SIDDIQUI
IF YOU hear the story of the union of Anupam and Kirron Kher, you will instantly draw a parallel to the famous singing duo Jagjit and Chitra Singh's past life. In both cases the women earlier underwent a traumatic divorce experience and found their old-time friends standing by their side, lending emotional support. Both ended up marrying these friends.
But Kirron Kher's story has a touch of what you might have seen in Hum Tum. They met and got separated several times before a final reunion. "We met at Department of Theatres in Chandigarh in 1974 when Balwant Gargi was its Head of Department. He was very lively and friendly. We became best of friends. I had come from Shimla and he from Mumbai. After we passed out from here, he went to join the National School of Drama and also taught for some time in Lucknow at Bhartendu Harishchandra College. But I went back to Mumbai and got married."
This former badminton player who represented India at the age of 13, has a proud lineage. Her mother was a "great actress and Urdu scholar" of her times. She was captain of almost all games played in her college in Chandigarh. Kirron played badminton at university, state, and country level from 1968 to 1972. Her sister Kanwal Thakar was a national champion in tennis singles. Amandeep Singh, their painter brother, recently passed away.
Kirron was pursuing her career in theatre when veteran actress Nargis introduced her to filmdom in 1977. Dharmendra's mother Diljit Kaur was known to her. She also did her bit to help her get acquainted to the film world. "But at that time great actresses like Suraiya ji and Nargis ji ruled the film horizon. For a newcomer like me there was no place. So I returned and resumed theatre," recalls Kirron.
A common point
What attracted Anupam and Kirron to each other was compassion for fellow humans. Though they end up behaving just opposite to each other at home.
While Anupam is passive, patient and brave, Kirron is aggressive, blunt and yet timid. "I create a scene when I find something going wrong. I say things to a person's face and forget it after some time. But he keeps quiet and bears all my tantrums with great patience. He can work with NGOs associated with mentally challenged children but I can't do that. The sight of such children takes a toll on me. I keep crying thinking of their parents and siblings," says Kirron.
They got married in 1985. "It happened only in one look." After working together in a play called "Chanadpuri Ki Champabai", they became very friendly. "After my broken marriage he took me to his guruji's ashram in Gurgaon. We also travelled to Kolkata once for a play. It was here, when after the play Anupam was packing his bags and he told me he was going back to Mumbai with a look that changed everything. I was not ready for the idea of his departure. He instantly proposed to me and we got married," reveals Kirron.
"I have always admired her honesty and straightforwardness, compassion and integrity and that she is always a complete professional when it comes to work," says Anupam. Anupam also has a brother, Raju Kher who looks just like Anupam and has worked in a few serials and films.
Now the duo works together with a clear division of labour. "He manages office and I manage home. While my son Sikandar, 23 helps him in our production house, he is also getting offers for films," Kirron informs.
Now it's a proud family of three. "Three is company, not a crowd in our case," chuckles a vivacious Kirron.
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