Veteran actors Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta were recently seen in the movie Shiv Shastri Balboa, which has been receiving a positive response from the audience. The actors, in an interview, spoke about their fitness and explained how they have worked on themselves to remain relevant in the industry. Kher also took a trip down the memory lane and recalled how his co-star used to cook her own meals and wash her own vessels during their National School Of Drama (NSD) days.
While speaking about her fitness journey in the interview, Gupta said, “We try to stay fit. We try to look a little respectable. I learn this from the youngsters, they work a lot on their body. And I feel that fitness is one of the reasons behind people liking us now and the people who are giving us work.”
Her Uunchai co-actor agreed with her and hilariously said, “We have to work on our body and youngsters have to work on their acting.” Gupta laughed and said, “Good one.”
Talking about the actress, Kher revealed that they went to the same drama school back in the day, and that a very progressive, spaghetti-strap clad Neena used to cook her own food and wash her vessels in the hostel. “If you were to look at her, Neena was very western (read, modern), but she used to wash her vessels while wearing a spaghetti strap.”
He added, “Drama school mein humara hostel same tha, ladke aur ladkiyan ek hi hostel mein rehte the. Ye dikhne mein puri western thi aur yeh bartan apne manjhti rehti thi, hamara sink bahar hota tha, aur yeh apne room mein khana banati thi. Aur main dekhta tha yeh ladki jo hai, spaghetti strap mein, modern attire mein bartan dho rahi hai. Toh mujhe woh kabhi bhulta nahi hai (in drama school, women and men used to live in the same hostel. Neena was quite western in her thoughts and dressing sense; she used to clean her dishes in the common sink, and cooked food inside her room. I can never forget the image of this woman wearing a spaghetti strap top and cleaning her utensils).”
In the interview, Kher also reflected back to the 1980s when he had first come to Mumbai with the aspiration of becoming an actor. He said, “Career wise I showed my heropanti when I came to Mumbai. This is (pointing towards his head) a very dignified bald sexy look, but when you initially lose your hair, your hair is scattered across your head. Also I was very thin. Everybody told me to become an assistant or a writer because they thought he would never become an actor.”
In Shiv Shastri Balboa, Anupam Kher plays an elderly man who moves to the US to be with his son after his retirement. However, fed up with the cultural shift, he soon sets on a mad adventure to Philadelphia with a friend, who is a house help (played by Neena Gupta). Needless to say, a hilarious string of events ensue.
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