When Anupam Kher’s mom slapped him for stealing ₹118 for audition, got the police involved

Actor Anupam Kher had once spoken about how during his college days in Himachal Pradesh he stole ₹118 from his mother to audition at Panjab University. In an old interview with Hindustan Times in 2018, Anupam had revealed that as he didn’t have the courage to approach his parents for the fare and so he stole the money. The ad for the audition had promised ₹200 to selected students. However, on learning about his antics, his mother gave him a slap. Also Read | Anupam Kher’s mom Dulari grooves to Srivalli, he thanks niece Vrinda: ‘You brought out the dancer in her’

Anupam Kher finished high school in Shimla but dropped out of college to study theatre at Chandigarh’s Panjab University. He later graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. He made his Bollywood debut with Mahesh Bhatt’s Saaransh in 1984. Anupam has worked in many films since then, including Tezaab, Ram Lakhan, Parinda, ChaalBaaz, Saudagar, Darr, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa, Refugee, Paheli, A Wednesday, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, and The Accidental Prime Minister among many others.

Speaking with Hindustan Time in 2018, Anupam had recalled, “I was quite mediocre at sports; the only field in which I shone was dramatics. I was studying in Government College, Shimla when I was declared the best actor of Himachal Pradesh University. I had taken admission in the Department of Economics at Himachal Pradesh University when I saw an ad by the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, Chandigarh, inviting students for a walk-in audition, and promising a scholarship of ₹200 to the selected students. I didn’t have the guts to approach my parents for the fare, so I stole a sum of ₹118 my mother had kept in her temple and landed at PU.”

He added, “I remember they had two pieces — one for girls and the other for boys. Instinctively, I enacted the piece meant for girls. Balwant Gargi, who was in the interview panel, noticed it, and remarked, ‘Very bad but very daring’. I returned home in the evening to find that my parents had called the police. My mother asked me whether I had taken the money but I flatly denied it. A week later, my father called me and asked, ‘Where had you gone that day?’ I told him the entire truth after which my mother gave me a tight slap. My father told her, ‘Don’t worry he is getting a scholarship of ₹200, he will return your 100.’ That’s how I learned about my admission.”

Meanwhile, Anupam is awaiting the release of Vivek Agnihotri’s, The Kashmir Files. The film also stars Mithun Chakraborty, Pallavi Joshi, and Darshan Kumar among others. The film is slated for a theatrical release on March 11, 2022. The Kashmir Files revolves around the killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990.

He also has filmmaker Sooraj Barjataya’s Uunchai in the pipeline. Apart from Anupam, the film will also feature Amitabh Bachchan, Danny Denzongpa, Neena Gupta, Boman Irani, Sarika, and Parineeti Chopra.