Kirron Kher

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Kirron Kher
Kirron Kher Saas Bahu aur Sensex launch.jpg
Born Kiran Thakar Singh
(1955-06-14) 14 June 1955 (age 57)
Chandigarh, Punjab, India
Occupation Actress
Spouse(s) Anupam Kher (1985–present)
Gautam Berry (divorced)
Children Sikandar Kher

Kirron Kher (also Kiran[1] or, Kiron[2][3][4] born 14 June 1955) is an Indian theatre, film and television actress and a TV talk show host.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Kirron Kher was born and brought up in Chandigarh, Punjab, where she did her schooling and later college from Punjab University, Chandigarh. At school she was an avid badminton player with her sister, Arjuna award Kanwal Thakar Kaur. Their mother, Diljit Kaur, 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]

Career [edit]

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 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.

Personal life [edit]

Kirron Kher with husband Anupam Kher at Esha Deol's wedding reception

Her son Sikandar Kher,[19] is from her first marriage to businessman and actor Gautam Berry, which ended in 1985. She then married actor Anupam Kher, whom she first met in 1974 at Department of Indian Theatre in Chandigarh. After this meet Anupam Kher went to Delhi and joined National School of Drama (NSD), while Kirron went to Bombay and got married to Gautam Berry. 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.

Awards [edit]

Filmography [edit]

Year Film Lanuage Role Notes
2013 Dostana 2 Hindi Mrs. Acharya / Seema (Sam's mother) Post-production
2012 Ajab Gazabb Love Hindi
2011 Mummy Punjabi Hindi Baby R. Arora
2010 Action Replayy Hindi Bholi Devi
2010 Milenge Milenge Hindi Tarot Card Reader
2010 Alexander the Great Malayalam
2009 Kurbaan Hindi Nasreen Aapa
2009 Kambakkht Ishq Hindi Aunt Dolly
2008 Dostana Hindi Mrs. Acharya / Seema (Sam's mother)
2008 Saas bahu aur Sensex Hindi Binita Sen
2008 Singh Is Kinng Hindi Rose Lady (Sonia's Mother)
2007 Om Shanti Om Hindi Bela Makhija (Om's Mother)
2007 Apne Hindi Raavi B. Choudhary
2007 Just Married Hindi Shobha Chaturvedi
2007 I See You Hindi Mrs. Dutt
2006 Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna Hindi Kamaljeet 'Kamal' Saran
2006 Fanaa Hindi Nafisa Ali Begum (Zooni's mother)
2006 Rang De Basanti Hindi Mitro (DJ's Mother)
2005 Mangal Pandey: The Rising Hindi Lol Bibi
2005 It Could Be You English Mrs. Dhillon
2004 Veer-Zaara Hindi Mariam Hayaat Khan (Zaara's Mother)
2004 Hum Tum Hindi Parminder 'Bobby' Prakash (Rhea's Mother)
2004 Main Hoon Na Hindi Madhu Sharma
2004 Khamosh Pani Punjabi Veero/Ayesha Khan
2004 Karz: The Burden of Truth Hindi Savitri Devi
2002 Devdas Hindi Sumitra
2000 Ehsaas: The Feeling Hindi Sunil shetty's mother
1999 Bariwali/The Lady of the House Bengali Banalata Won, National Film Award for Best Actress
1997 Darmiyaan: In Between Hindi / Assamese Zeenat Begum
1996 Sardari Begum Hindi Sardari Begum Won, National Film Award Special Jury Awards
1988 Pestonjee Hindi Soona Mistry credited as Kiron Thakursingh-Kher
1983 Aasra Pyaar Da Punjabi Sheela

Television [edit]

Year Program Language Role Notes
2009 India's Got Talent Hindi Judge all seasons
2004 ER English Mrs. Rasgotra Episode Damaged
2004 Prratima Hindi
1999 Gubbare Hindi
1988 Isi Bahane Hindi

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Always there, from tiny steps to big leaps Indian Express, 12 May 2002.
  2. ^ a b Once more, with feeling. desimatch.com
  3. ^ a b c d 'Art knows no boundary' Daily Star, 3 December 2003.
  4. ^ a b Kiron Kher in the middle of controversy apunkachoice.com. 12 August 2000 .
  5. ^ a b All love and Kher The Hindu, 19 August 2004.
  6. ^ Films are to entertain, not preach: Kirron Kher The Peninsula, 28 April 2008.
  7. ^ The Making of Neoliberal India: Nationalism, Gender, and the Paradoxes of Globalization, by Rupal Oza, Published by CRC Press, 2006. ISBN 0-415-95186-0. Page 63.
  8. ^ Kirron Kher’s stock zooms higher! Times of India, 22 September 2008.
  9. ^ 56th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland The Tribune, 18 August 2003.
  10. ^ Kiron Kher's film releases in New York Rediff.com, 8 October 2004.
  11. ^ Visiting Pakistan was like a pilgrimage: Kiron Kher Times of India, 20 July 2004.
  12. ^ Mrs Kher comes calling – page 2 Times of India, 16 October 2004.
  13. ^ Silent waves, still waters The Hindu, 2 December 2004.
  14. ^ IFFLA 2004 Film Schedule, 8:00pm: Tribute to Kirron Kher Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA).
  15. ^ a tribute to award-winning actress Kiron Kher Tribune , 22 March 2004.
  16. ^ "ER" Damaged (2004) at the Internet Movie Database Anupam Kher played her huband in the episode, as Ajay Rasgotra.
  17. ^ Many shades, same delight The Hindu, 31 January 2005.
  18. ^ Kiron Kher at Rotten Tomatoes.
  19. ^ Kirron Kher on her son, Sikander Rediff.com, 2 June 2008.
  20. ^ Relative Values Times of India, 20 July 2003.
  21. ^ Numerology: Bust or boom? Times of India, 20 August 2003.
  22. ^ awards Internet Movie Database.
  23. ^ Award Citations – 2003 Kara Awards Karachi International Film Festival Official website.

External links [edit]
1967–1980
1981–2000
2001–present
1978–1980
Special Mention
1981–2000
Special Mention
2001–present
Special Mention
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