Anupam Kher Announced As New FTII Chairman

Film actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the new chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune. The announcement came on Wednesday afternoon. Kher replaces Gajendra Chauhan as the FTII chairman whose tenure ended in March this year. The institute hit the headlines last year when students boycotted classes for 139 days in opposition to Chauhan’s appointment.

Kher has worked in more than 500 films and over 100 plays in last three decades. The 62-year-old actor was conferred the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016 by the Indian government. Some of his prominent films include Saaransh, Daddy, Lamhe, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara, Khosla Ka Ghosla and A Wednesday. He has also been a part of international projects such as Golden Globe nominated Bend It Like Beckham, Ang Lee’s 2007 Golden Lion-winning Lust, Caution, and David O Russell’s 2013 Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook. His wife Kirron Kher is an actor and a BJP MP.

Kher is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming film, Ranchi Diaries. Author of best-selling book The Best Thing About You Is You, Kher is a teacher, philanthropist and motivational speaker. He also runs an acting school Actor Prepares in Mumbai. Kher has worked in other Indian languages like Tamil, Marathi and Malayalam.

Talking about his vast filmography, Anupam Kher had told HT, “In a span of 35 years, I have done 500 films. When I met Woody Allen, he asked me, ‘I’ve heard you have done a lot of films. What is the number?’ I had done 417 films then. He asked me, ‘In how many lives?’”