How do you play someone who has been described as expressionless, inscrutable, deadpan? Ask Anupam Kher, who has stepped into the role of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in The Accidental Prime Minister , adapted from the book written by the latter’s media adviser Sanjaya Baru.
“It’s been my toughest role ever,” says Mr. Kher, award-winning actor, chairman of the Film Institute of India (FTII), and no fan of the UPA government Dr. Singh headed.
He told The Hindu in Delhi, where he is shooting for the film, that he has taken to meditation as a “hook” to get into Dr. Singh’s character.
A major challenge was to find nuances, home in on small differences in what seems like the same inscrutable manner. “He is a very self-effacing person,” says Mr. Kher. “He never draws attention to himself. In the same walk, in the same expression, he could be happy or irritated. There is a huge element of inscrutability. My entire challenge is to be the character despite this unreadability,” he says.
Struggle for stillness
Being what he describes as a very physical actor, Mr. Kher struggled to find the stillness required to pull of a Manmohan Singh. “For the first time in my life I meditated. I had to be still inside as Anupam Kher in order to concentrate on bringing out his persona,” he explains.
Playing someone who is a part of the country’s recent past is very different from playing someone from many decades ago, he says. “When you do a role like Gandhi or Churchill or anyone during the black and white era, you go with an idea of how he or she must have been. But when you essay the role of someone who is contemporary, you have to imagine his inner world and create a believable human being. My greatest challenge is to humanise Dr. Singh and to make the public image into a deeply personal study.”
Mr. Kher’s views on the UPA government are no secret and he admits that he hesitated when the role was first offered to him. But professionalism trumped politics. “I’m a trained actor from the National School of Drama. Also, people change their views with their understanding of a situation. On several issues, my views 10 years ago are not the same as they are currently. As an actor you play characters that challenge you, characters you do not judge, characters that you interpret,” he says.
‘Modern-day Hamlet’
But he still believes that Dr. Singh took decisions he shouldn’t have. Or at least went along with them. “My issue with him was that if there were certain things he didn’t want to do, he should have put his foot down. But I guess politics and power come with many compulsions. I kept away from clouding my interpretation of the character with my political understanding since this could go from the realm of acting into philosophy — from the objective to the subjective. According to me, he is like Hamlet, a well-intentioned person, not crafty, not bred for politics.”
Did he meet Dr. Manmohan Singh to get a better sense of who he was playing. Mr. Kher suggests that he didn’t seek a meeting as it may have clouded his technique. That it may have led to him to look at Dr. Manmohan Singh in a way that is different from the images already publicly available. There was also a more pragmatic reason. “What if he said no? I didn’t want him to say no to me as I am portraying him with all sincerity.” The film directed by first time director Vijay Gutte, is slated for release in December.
