“Who feel it’s propaganda, are free to make movies with subjects they find perfect”: Anupam Kher on ‘The Kerala Story’

New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): Anupam Kher is at the stage of his career where he feels satisfied with the kind of work he is doing and the actor is known for being vocal about different issues. Recently, he spoke about controversies going around ‘The Kerala Story’.

He told ANI, “They are the same faces who are opposing such films and they can be seen everywhere. Be it CAA protest or Shaheen Bagh protest or JNU protest. They were the same faces who criticised ‘The Kashmir Files’. I don’t know their motive and neither believe in paying attention towards them. In fact, they have become redundant.”

Further talking about the controversies going around ‘The Kerala Story’, he added, “Again I would say they are the same faces. I have not seen the film but I am happy that people are making films which are close to reality. And those who feel it is a propaganda are free to make movies dealing with the subject they find perfect. No one is stopping them. “

The 68 -year-old actor is busy with the promotion of his upcoming film ‘IB71’ which revolves around the 1971 India-Pakistan war. In a conversation with ANI, he talked about the significance of the film and why he thinks it should reach the masses.

He said, “It’s a film about our unsung heroes. This incident happened around 50 years back in the 1971 war. We need to salute them and be thankful to them, that they made this operation and nobody knows about it. We know about the 71 war which we won in 13 days. Pakistan got divided into two nations, 91,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered, which we returned to them. But this operation, which was the most important operation, because Pakistan this time was going to attack us with China. So, we had to block the airspace. This film is directed by Sankalp Reddy, someone who earlier made ‘The Ghazi Attack’. And it is amazing and made with a lot of love.”

The ‘Uunchai’ actor added that there are many unsung heroes whose story needs to be told and also talked about his uncle, his father Pushkar Nath Kher’s younger brother.

“After working in this film I realised that there are many unsung heroes whose stories are still untold. In fact my chachaji was the assistant director in the Intelligence Bureau and although he stayed with us, we hardly know actually what was his work profile or what he used to do before retirement. So, I just wonder what wonderful people are who even don’t share what they are doing about the nation and their contribution is just remarkable.”

While sharing a memory from his shooting days for the film, he added, “During this Ganga operation, this Ganga aircraft was defunct. When Vidyut Jammwal and the film’s director told me about the incident I was stunned. I remember the 1971 war. I was a 16-year-old at that time and was a volunteer in NCC so I had many memories. But don’t remember much about this operation.”

Kher is playing IB chief in the film and sharing more about it, he told ANI “While playing this role, I realised that for IB chief, his agents were like his younger brothers and family members. To think about their well-being was like an important mission for him. So, there is a human side and it was a great honour to play this role.”

“For an actor, every role is important but he often identifies with certain characters. And I connect with my roles in this film, ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘Saaransh'”

“Lot of emphasis has been put on special effects, dialogues . The shooting of the film happened in Kashmir in extreme cold weather conditions and many difficulties. There is an amazing boat chase sequence in the film, ” shared Anupam.

Kher revealed that seven months of research was done by the makers for the film.

“And the coincidence was that the pilot was a Kashmiri pandit. I came to know very important facts about the film and would like to know more,” he added.

Sharing his working experience with Vidyut, he told ANI, “Vidyut is very good off screen and on screen. He has made his place in the industry and he is a fine actor and really he played his role well as a producer.

Sankalp Reddy-directorial ‘IB71’ is all set to release on May 12.

On the work front, he will be next seen in ‘Emergency’, ‘Metro In Dino’, ‘Kaagaz 2’, ‘The Signature’, among others.