Kirron Kher
| Kirron Kher | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Kiran Thakar Singh 14 June 1955 Mumbai, India |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse | Anupam Kher (1985–present) Gautam Berry (divorced) |
| Children | Sikander Kher |
Kirron Kher (also Kiran[1] or Kiron[2][3][4] Punjabi: ਕਿਰਣ ਖੇਰ; born 14 June 1955) is an Indian theatre, film and television actress and a TV talk show host.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Kirron Kher was born in Bangalore and brought up in Chandigarh, Punjab, where she did her schooling and later college from Panjab University, Chandigarh. At school she was an avid badminton player with her sister, Arjuna award Kanwal Thakar Singh. Their mother, Diljit Singh, was active in sports and dramatics during her college days in pre-partition Punjab.[1] Kirron had a brother, artist Amardeep Singh, who died in 2003.[5]
[edit] Career
Kirron Kher made her film debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da and received rave reviews for her performance. She soon took a hiatus from films[6] following her divorce to raise her son, Sikander Kher. Meanwhile, she worked for her second husband Anupam Kher as a costume designer and appeared in one film in between, Pestonjee in 1988, wherein she acted alongside Anupam Kher.
Her return to acting came about with theatre, with the play Saalgirah, by playwright Javed Siddiqui and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.[2] Then she hosted three television shows, starting with Purushkshetra on Zee TV which got her much acclaimed for bringing out the discussion of sexuality to the forum for the first time, while highlighting women's issues at the same time,[7] Kiron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kiron Kher, before doing Bollywood films.[8]
Her comeback film was by Shyam Benegal, Sardari Begum (1996), which won her the Special Jury Award at the 1997 National Film Awards.
In 2000, she appeared in film director Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Bariwali 1999, to critical acclaim.[3] When she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the film, a controversy arose as a Bangla film actress, Rita Koiral, claimed that she had dubbed for the character of Kirron, making her an equal claimant to the award. Kirron refuted the charges claiming she spent hours rehearsing for her dialogue delivery, and the award was eventually not shared.[3][4]
In 2002, Kirron appeared in Devdas (2002), alongside Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai, and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.
In Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) (2003),[9] a film that portrays the plight of a woman abducted during partition of India, her character not only refused to kill herself as suggested by her family, but marries her abductor and, after his death, makes an earning teaching Quran to local children. It shows how her life changes dramatically when her son takes up Islamic extremism in 1979 during the rule of Zia-ul-Haq and his process of Islamization of Pakistan.[10] She won the Best Actress Award, at Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland, the Karachi International Film Festival, Karachi, and International Festivals at Ciepie in Argentina,[11] and Cape Town in South Africa [3][12] while the film won the Best Film – Golden Leopard, Festival Grand Prize at Locarno.[13]
The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) 2004 paid tribute to Kirron during its annual festival.[14][15]
In October 2004 Kirron made a guest appearance, along with her husband, in the American TV series ER playing Parminder Nagra's mother, Mrs. Rasgotra, in episode "Damaged."[16]
In 2005, she essayed the role of role of Sunanda in the tele-serial Prratima on Sahara One channel, before which she had appeared in TV series like Dil Na Jaane Kyon (Zee TV), Isi Bahane, and Chausath Panne.[17]
Despite playing mostly supporting roles, her successful movies include Main Hoon Na (2004), Hum Tum (2004), Veer-Zaara (2004), and Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), where her performance drew rave reviews.[18] Her work in Rang De Basanti (2006) was a huge hit and her performance got her second nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. Her role in Fanaa (2006) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) also received appreciation. Adding to her list of comical roles in 2008 she appeared in Singh is Kinng, Saas bahu aur Sensex and Dostana. In 2009, she appeared as judge on India's Got Talent, the Indian franchise of the Got Talent series.
[edit] Personal life
She gave birth to actor Sikander Kher,[19] from her first marriage to businessman and actor Gautam Berry, which ended in 1985. She then married actor Anupam Kher, whom she first met at Department of Indian Theatre in Chandigarh in 1974; after which Anupam Kher went to Delhi and joined National School of Drama (NSD), while Kirron went to Bombay and got married to her first husband. They subsequently met while working in a play called Chanadpuri Ki Champabai. They married in 1985; now they run a production house.[5][20]
In 2003, she changed her name from "Kiron" to "Kirron" due to beliefs in numerology.[21]
She has a great liking for collecting jewellery and sarees. In most films she wears her own jewellery and clothes. She recently acted as a judge in India's Got Talent.
[edit] Awards
- 1997: National Film Award - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film): Sardari Begum
- 2000: National Film Award for Best Actress: Bariwali
- 2003: IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award: Devdas
- 2003: Locarno International Film Festival: Bronze Leopard Award : Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) [22]
- 2003: Karachi International Film Festival: Best Female Actor in a Leading Role: Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) [23]
- 2006: Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress: Rang De Basanti
- 2010: Apsara Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Kurbaan
- Nominations
- 2003: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Devdas
- 2007: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Rang De Basanti
- 2008: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Dostana
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | |||
| 2011 | Mummy Punjabi | Baby R. Arora | |
| 2010 | Action Replayy | Bholi Devi | |
| 2010 | Right Yaa Wrong | TBA | |
| 2009 | Kurbaan | Aapa | |
| 2009 | Kambakkht Ishq | Aunt Dolly | |
| 2008 | Dostana | Seema | |
| 2008 | Saas bahu aur Sensex | Binita | |
| 2008 | Singh Is Kinng | Rose Lady (Sonia's Mother) | |
| 2007 | Mummy-Ji | ||
| 2007 | Om Shanti Om | Bela Makhija (Om's Mother) | |
| 2007 | Apne | Raavi Choudhary | |
| 2007 | Just Married | Mrs. Chaturvedi | |
| 2007 | I See You | Mrs. Dutt | |
| 2006 | Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna | Kamaljeet Saran | |
| 2006 | Fanaa | Nafisa Ali Begum (Zooni's mother) | |
| 2006 | Rang De Basanti | Mitro (DJ's Mother) | |
| 2005 | Mangal Pandey: The Rising | Lol Bibi | |
| 2004 | Veer-Zaara | Mariam Hayaat Khan (Zaara's Mother) | |
| 2004 | Hum Tum | Parminder Prakash aka Bobby (Rhea's Mother) | |
| 2004 | Main Hoon Na | Madhu Sharma | |
| 2004 | Khamosh Pani: Silent Waters | Veero/Ayesha | |
| 2004 | Karz: The Burden of Truth | Savitri Devi | |
| 2002 | Devdas | Sumitra | |
| 1990s | |||
| 1999 | Bariwali | Banalata | Won, National Film Award for Best Actress |
| 1997 | Darmiyan | Zeenat Begum | |
| 1996 | Sardari Begum | Sardari Begum | Won, National Film Award Special Jury Awards |
| 1995 | Karan Arjun | Durjan Singh's Wife | |
| 1980s | |||
| 1988 | Pestonjee | Soona Mistry | |
| 1983 | Aasra Pyaar Da (Punjabi) | ||
[edit] Television
- 2004: Prratima TV series
- 1988: Isi Bahane TV series
[edit] References
- ^ a b Always there, from tiny steps to big leaps Indian Express, 12 May 2002.
- ^ a b Once more, with feeling. desimatch.com
- ^ a b c d 'Art knows no boundary' Daily Star, 3 December 2003.
- ^ a b Kiron Kher in the middle of controversy apunkachoice.com. 12 August 2000 .
- ^ a b All love and Kher The Hindu, 19 August 2004.
- ^ Films are to entertain, not preach: Kirron Kher The Peninsula, 28 April 2008.
- ^ The Making of Neoliberal India: Nationalism, Gender, and the Paradoxes of Globalization, by Rupal Oza, Published by CRC Press, 2006. ISBN 0415951860. Page 63.
- ^ Kirron Kher’s stock zooms higher! Times of India, 22 September 2008.
- ^ 56th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland The Tribune, 18 August 2003.
- ^ Kiron Kher's film releases in New York Rediff.com, 8 October 2004.
- ^ Visiting Pakistan was like a pilgrimage: Kiron Kher Times of India, 20 July 2004.
- ^ Mrs Kher comes calling – page 2 Times of India, 16 October 2004.
- ^ Silent waves, still waters The Hindu, 2 December 2004.
- ^ IFFLA 2004 Film Schedule, 8:00pm: Tribute to Kirron Kher Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).
- ^ a tribute to award-winning actress Kiron Kher Tribune , 22 March 2004.
- ^ "ER" Damaged (2004) at the Internet Movie Database Anupam Kher played her huband in the episode, as Ajay Rasgotra.
- ^ Many shades, same delight The Hindu, 31 January 2005.
- ^ Kiron Kher at Rottentomatoes.
- ^ Kirron Kher on her son, Sikander Rediff.com, 2 June 2008.
- ^ Relative Values Times of India, 20 July 2003.
- ^ Numerology: Bust or boom? Times of India, 20 August 2003.
- ^ awards Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Award Citations – 2003 Kara Awards Karachi International Film Festival Official website.
[edit] External links
- Kiron Kher at the Internet Movie Database
- Kiron Kher at New York Times.
- Kirron Kher at Allmovie.
|
|||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kirron Kher |
