The pitch black sky was suddenly lit up with a burst of thousands of multi-colored sparklers. The people on the ground gasped. It was a sight for the Gods to watch. The who’s who of the film industry gaped at the continuous burst of fireworks with child-like glee.

“Your life is like this burst of fire crackers. For a moment you will light up the sky but then it will burn out and darkness will return and the world below will wait for the fresh burst of light to eliminate this darkness…”, I remember saying to Anupam Kher at a grand Film fare function being held by the pool side of the Centaur hotel in Juhu a few years ago.

With lightening speed my message hit him. He looked bewildered. This was no way to treat an actor who had just burst on to the landscape of the Indian entertainment industry with a bang, and had thereafter consolidated his position year after year with film after film which won him national and popular awards. “Why are you saying this to me at a moment like this Bhattsaab?” asked Anupam Kher, not being able to comprehend the motive behind my statement. Why he wondered, was I introducing the idea of a certain end in this night of celebration just when his career had touched an all time high? After all it was the night when he had won the 5th Film fare award in a row which is a feat achieved by few. Like a responsible parent I was just preparing this young, magnetic Kashmiri pundit who I had discovered in my enduring classic ‘Saaransh’, to arm himself against the inevitable. It was difficult for Anupam to comprehend what I was preparing him for because success blinds you. It makes most intelligent people feel like they’ll never fail. Anupam was intoxicated by his success and it was my duty to train him to face defeat.

I sincerely believe that if failure brings us to the ground, it also makes us face the nitty gritty and makes us look at things as they are sans the glitter. In life, and particularly the movies, success cannot last for ever. Everyone’s time runs out. But the joke is that most of us in the film business claim that we understand this unchangeable truth, yet deep within ourselves we feel that perhaps we might be the exceptions who will go through life without experiencing defeat. And Anupam too, like the rest of us, believed this.

And then one day, as all stories go, he saw the tide of success turn back, and that is where he learned the lesson that one should never take anything for granted, because in life ‘Kuch bhi ho sakta hai’. Success solidifies you; it makes one hungry and pine for more and more. But it is in great failure that you find great success. Anupam proves this philosophy by unflinchingly looking at his life in his one actor play ‘Kuch bhi ho sakta hai’ with great depth. I’ll never forget the expressions on the faces of the who’s who of the film industry watching Anupam Kher bear his life and his soul to the world. The child like innocence and sage like wisdom with which he revisits the moments of great failures in his life leaves the audience spell bound.

It is while watching this brave play that you realize what the defining core of this extraordinary Indian actor is, who has audacity and energy which can be matched by very few in Bollywood. In the course of the play when Anupam Kher, with heart breaking simplicity, acknowledges the contribution of all those people to his success, you wake up to the feeling of gratitude which has disappeared from our social life. To me he says it all when he says ‘If life is a battle of Kurukshetra and I am the questioning Arjun, then Mahesh Bhatt to me is Krishna.’

It is hardly surprising that whenever and where ever Anupam Kher performs this play the audience bursts into applause when he says this. The reason they do this is because they can clearly see his monumental generosity in acknowledging his mentor, which even they perhaps somewhere in their private lives are failing to do.

Through ‘Kuch bhi hota hai’, Anupam Kher embraces life. It’s a boundless embrace in which he leaves nothing and no one out. This great actor who dwarfed the world by his performance in ‘Saaransh’ tells the world that any attempt to squirm away from pain only leads to more pain. To be honest the Anupam Kher post his failure is a far richer and a far more generous person than the one who I had tried to converse with at the peak of his glory.

To me Anupam Kher is much more than an actor. Essentially he is a teacher. Even though he gives me the status of a guru I have no hesitation in saying that I have learned so much from him. The manner in which he responds to a scene when it is read out to him and thereafter makes everyone on the set become a participant in that scene spotlights his creed that says no significant work can come from any actor or individual without group support. “Film making is a collaborative art form. It should bring the unit closer by the end of the day” he said to a self obsessed actor who was only concerned about his own performance in a scene. “I am a better teacher than an actor Bhattsaab” he once told me during the making of ‘Saaransh’. No wonder today the 28 year old actor who came to my door step looking for work has himself become a teacher. The Actor Prepares acting school run by Anupam Kher from Juhu in Mumbai, is fast becoming an institution of sorts which gets students from all over the world. I was delighted to discover in one of my visits to the school that he attracts students from New York, Bradford, Pakistan and from the villages of Bihar. Today he is completely devoted to teaching. One can gage how dependable his acting school has become from the fact that I have sent my own son Rahul Bhatt to the acting school to be groomed. The hopefuls who come to me with a thirst to become future stars will most certainly be sent to this actor turned teacher to bring out the best in them.

When I look Anupam Kher today I’m filled with delight. I feel like a gardener who has sown a seed hoping it would turn into a plant but has been dumbfounded to see it grow into a majestic tree under whose shade many will sit and learn the lessons of life.

Trying to sum up a piece on Anupam Kher for me is like attempting to pour an ocean of memories into a small bucket. We’ve spent so many great moments of out lives together that even if we wanted to we couldn’t tear ourselves away from each other. How can I forget the look on his face when I saw the great Sanjeev Kumar break down after the screening of ‘Saaransh’ and refer to his performance as one of the best performances he had ever seen. How can I forget that moment when after the screening of ‘Saaransh’ at Metro I saw him being mobbed by a sea of people. How can I forget the first ride he gave me in his brand new Fiat car which ushered him onto the highway of super stardom… I can just go on and on. Each memory bubble has a life of its own, but one that sparkles right now in memory is the one with which I will conclude this piece… We are on a Pakistan international flight which is heading to Karachi. As soon as the plane takes off the airhostess comes and warmly conveys a message from the captain “The captain would be delighted to have you and Mr. Kher in the cock-pit.” As we approach Karachi I and Anupam Kher decide to step in to the cock-pit and get an aerial view of the port city. “Are we allowed to be in the cock-pit while you land?” I ask the captain. “Normally we would ask you to return to your seats but since we have a great actor like Mr. Kher with us who is making his first trip to Pakistan we would like to give him the privilege of experiencing the landing from the cock-pit.” And then as the plane lands like an eagle in the Jinnah airport the captain with a beaming smile says “Welcome to Pakistan Mr. Anupam Kher. It’s a privilege to welcome an actor like you from India.”

When I look back what more can I ask for. When a student out distances a teacher, the teacher always wins. Anupam Kher has out distanced me and outshone me and look… I have won. Thank you Anupam Kher. I love you.

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