Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher gets under the spotlight for the 200th time this evening, for Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, a play that stands on the strength of disasters in the actor's life

Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher gets under the spotlight for the 200th time this evening, for Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, a play that stands on the strength of disasters in the actor's life

Bollywood veteran Anupam Kher shares a strange treaty with director Mahesh Bhatt. For every film he has done, he has ended up paying Bhatt, rather than charging him an acting fee. The reason, Kher says with a throaty laugh, is an incident that occurred before he shot for his debut, Saaransh.

(left) As Alok, with fellow actors Jackie Shroff and Dimple Kapadia in the
film, Kaash (right) With wife Kirron Kher

"When Mr Bhatt threw me out of the film (he was told 10 days before the shoot that he wasn't part of the film), I packed my bags and was going back to Shimla. But I wanted to tell Mr Bhatt what I thought of him," recalls Kher. The devastated actor, then in his late twenties, screamed at Bhatt, called him a cheat, while fighting back tears. "I even said, 'Main aapko shraap deta hoon.'" Bhatt changed his mind and cast Kher in the film that gave the actor his first Best Actor Award. Years later, the "shraap" has been retracted, and Kher jokes about paying Bhatt to compensate for the outburst.u00a0

It's incidents like these, plucked from the actor's life, that form the crux of Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, which celebrates its 200th performance today. Though the play focuses on the actor's life, Kher believes it has worked because the audience has managed to see a bit of their own lives reflected on stage. "It works because it talks about dreams, passion, setbacks and an undying spirit. People identify with this whether they are in Toronto or Hyderabad. The script says you can do anything as long as you are persistent, and you can take failure in your stride," says Kher about the production directed by Feroze Abbas Khan.u00a0

The idea for the play struck him when he received an offer to write an autobiography from two publishing houses. Kher, who often entertained his friends by recounting anecdotes from his life, collected material for the autobiography.

"I told Feroze that I felt like performing it because I'm an actor, and I think it's a great story," says Kher. The two created a script that ran into four hours, beforeu00a0 editing it to its current two-hour length. The play revolves around a series of disasters including a dismal 38% at graduation, egg on his face with Sawal Dus Crore Ka and an obsessively passionate girlfriend. "Ya, it's about the disasters, right from when I was born (and a British nurse wanted to adopt him) till Om Jai Jagdish (his directorial debut) flopped," he smiles.

On: Today, 6.30 pm at Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point.
Call: 22824567 / 66223724
Tickets: Rs 120 to Rs 400

The Hum Aapke Hain Kaun incident
The play is peppered with "turning point" incidents in Kher's life. Apart from the incident with Mahesh Bhatt, without which Kher believes he wouldn't be "celebrating 200 shows of my play", he considers an incident in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (HAHK) a pivotal point in his life. Over to Anupam:
"Suddenly, one day I realised my face was twisted because I was suffering from Facial Palsy. The doctor told me not to do anything for two months. I had to take a quick decision at the time. If I had rested for two months, the fear would be with me all my life. I rejected the doctor's advice and went straight to Sooraj Barjatya while we were shooting for the pillow sequence in HAHK. I said, 'Look, my face is like this but I'm ready to shoot'. We did. I think it's decisions like these that make you say, kuch bhi ho sakta hai."