Anupam Kher On His Show 'Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain': I Want To Instil Hope In People And Tell Them Not To Give Up

Anupam Kher is the latest celebrity to venture into digital space with his talk show 'Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain'. And he’s doing what he does best, as the ‘people’s person’ himself claims – having candid conversations with extraordinary people having extremely ordinary journeys of life. 

The 67-year-old actor, who has previously hosted several TV shows such as 'Say Na Something To Anupam Uncle' and 'The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai' among others, has brought his latest on his Youtube channel, where people from across the globe can watch it. 

Talking about the premise of the show and what made him venture into the web space, Kher told Outlook, “I always believe there is so much to learn from people and conversations. Even though I feel that I have lived an interesting life, I think there are still people who can inspire you by their courage or their ways of life. We share a lot of negative things on social media but once you talk to people who are achievers, there is a sense of positivity.”

He added, “The response to my earlier shows has been great and I have been wanting to do that. Now with platforms like Youtube, where you don’t need to go to a particular channel, you can chat with people easily. That was the prime reason to do that.”

Kher was seen having a conversation with his mother, Dulari Kher, in the first episode of 'Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain'. From sharing some of her personal experiences of raising her two sons, Anupam and Raju, to delving into some memorable incidents of her life, the episode is a delight to watch. “If my father was alive, I would have recorded my conversation with him because we never get to share what our mothers and fathers lives were during their childhood. But since my father passed away so I thought of getting my mother on the show.”

Next up, he followed it up with having Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jai Ram Thakur, whom he met during his annual holidays in the state. Sharing how it all happened, the actor said, “I met the Chief Minister of Himachal and we suddenly were talking about his childhood by just asking questions. I then asked him if I could record this, and we did the whole thing.”

The guests for his chat show have been curated by Kher himself, and his other guests include Indian badminton player PV Sindhu, Indian sprinter Hima Das and actor-director M Nasser. 

According to the actor, his main idea of the show was to have a baggage-free conversation, and speak to people in a way that is not staged. 

“When you have a conversation on a set with lights, you are bound to have a very stereotypical conversation. But when you do a show like 'Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain', it has to be candid. I spoke to PV Sindhu at her house, I spoke to Hima Das at a sports stadium and actor-director M. Nassar in a makeup room, I spoke to my mom in my school. So, it doesn't look like a chat show and that’s the brief that I gave to myself. For me, it’s not to make my guests uncomfortable. I want to inspire people and tell them to not give up. I have learnt so much from so many people, from common people, who don’t need Monday motivation quotes,” the veteran actor said. 

He added, “The most easy and the most difficult thing in life is to be yourself. So, I go and meet the person in their zones and since I don’t go with baggage, they also don’t have to put up an act. Everyone has a story, we all do, but we have forgotten that maybe because we compare our lives to others too much.”

Last but not the least, Kher signed off by saying that after two years of pandemic, two years of lockdown and being at home, I think there’s something that has changed in people. So he wants to “instil hope” in people as it is “the most important four letter word”. 

Kher is all set to feature next in Sooraj Barjatya’s 'Uunchai', which also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sarika, Neena Gupta and Parineeti Chopra, with pivotal performances by Danny Denzongpa and Nafisa Ali Sodhi. The film, which is touted to be an unforgettable journey of friendship, is slated to be released on November 11.