Kirron Kher

Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran[2] or, Kiron[3][4] born 14 June 1952) is an Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In May 2014, she was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament, from Chandigarh.[5] During her film career, she is the recipient of two National Film Awards and four Filmfare Award nominations.

Kirron Kher
Kher at Indian Telly Awards in 2012
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Assumed office
16 May 2014
Preceded byPawan Kumar Bansal
ConstituencyChandigarh
Personal details
Born
Kiran Thakar Singh Sandhu

(1952-06-14) 14 June 1952
Bangalore, Mysore State, India[1]
CitizenshipIndian
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouses
Gautam Berry
​
​
(m. 1979; div. 1985)​
    ​
    (m. 1985)​
    ChildrenSikandar Kher (son)
    Residences
    Occupation
    • Actress
    • television personality
    • entertainment producer
    • singer
    • politician
    • socio-political activist

    Early life

    Kiran Thakar Singh Sandhu was born on 14 June 1952 in Bangalore, Mysore State, India[1] into a Punjabi Jatt Sikh family of the Sandhu clan and grew up in Chandigarh.[6][7] During the period of her first marriage to Gautam Berry, she was known as 'Kiran Berry'. When she married Anupam Kher, she resumed her maiden name and also added her latest husband's surname, being known as 'Kiran Thakar Singh Kher'. In later life, she developed a firm belief in numerology, and in 2003 (aged 51), she changed her name from "Kiran" to "Kirron" based on numerological calculations,[8] dropped her maiden names, and came to be known as 'Kirron Kher.'

    Kirron has one brother and two sisters. Her brother, the artist Amardeep Singh Sandhu, died in 2003.[9] One of her sisters is the Arjuna Award–winning badminton player, Kanwal Thakar Kaur. Her other sister, Sharanjit Kaur Sandhu, is the wife of a retired senior officer of the Indian Navy.

    Kirron went to school in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh,[10] and completed her school education in Chandigarh, and then graduated from the Department of Indian Theatre of Panjab University, Chandigarh.

    Personal life

    Kirron married Gautam Berry, a Mumbai–based businessman, in first week of March 1979, and had a son, Sikandar Kher.[11]

    In Mumbai, Kirron tried throughout the 1980s to get a foothold in the film industry, but without success. While visiting producer after producer seeking a role in films, Kirron renewed her acquaintance with Anupam Kher, who was also a similarly struggling actor, and whom she had known slightly at university in Chandigarh.[12] Moving in the same theatre circles, they worked together in a play called Chandpuri Ki Champabai. In 1985, after Anupam had secured a break in films with Saaransh (1984), Kirron divorced her first husband.[13]

    Career

    Kirron made her film debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da, After this, she took a hiatus from films until 1996.[14] Between 1983 and 1996, she appeared in one film, Pestonjee (1987), in which she acted in a small role alongside her second husband Anupam Kher.

    Her return to acting came in the mid–1990s, through theatre, with the play Saalgirah written by playwright Javed Siddiqui and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.[3] She then hosted three television shows, starting with the short–lived Purushkshetra on Zee TV which got attention for bringing out the discussion of alternative sexuality for the first time, while also highlighting women's issues.[15] Kirron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kirron Kher, before doing Hindi films.[16]

    Her comeback film was Sardari Begum (1996), directed by Shyam Benegal. Her performance received high critical acclaim and earned her the National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature Film).

    She then appeared in film director Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Bariwali (1999), to critical acclaim.[4] 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.[4]

    In 2002, Kher appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's period romantic drama Devdas (2002), alongside Shahrukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit in which her performance received widespread critical acclaim, receiving her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

    In Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) (2003),[17] 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.[18] She won the Best Actress Award at the Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland, the Karachi International Film Festival, Karachi, and International Festivals at Ciepie in Argentina,[19] and Cape Town in South Africa[4][20] while the film won the Best Film – Golden Leopard, Festival Grand Prize at Locarno.[21]

    The 2004 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) paid tribute to Kher during its annual festival.[22][23]

    In October 2004, Kher made a guest appearance, along with her husband, in the American TV series ER playing Parminder Nagra's mother, Mrs. Rasgotra, in the episode "Damaged".

    In 2005, she played 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.[24]

    Despite playing mostly supporting roles, her successful films include Main Hoon Na (2004), Hum Tum (2004), Veer-Zaara (2004), and Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), where her performance drew rave reviews.[25] Her work in Rang De Basanti (2006) was also acclaimed with her performance earning her a second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her role in Fanaa (2006) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) also received appreciation, receiving her third nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the latter.

    Adding to her list of comical roles in 2008 she appeared in Singh Is Kinng, Saas Bahu Aur Sensex and Dostana, receiving her fourth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for the lattermost. In 2009, she appeared as judge on India's Got Talent, the Indian franchise of the Got Talent series.

    Kirron with husband Anupam in 2012.

    Socio–political activism

    Kirron Kher has been involved with non–profit movements such as Laadli (a campaign against female infanticide) and Roko Cancer (a campaign for awareness of cancer).[26][27] She joined the Bhartiya Janata Party in 2009.[28] She campaigned for the party in across the country during the elections, including in Chandigarh for the 2011 municipal corporation elections.[29] She has been a vocal admirer of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi since long before his candidature was announced.[30] Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) declared her as the Lok Sabha candidate from Chandigarh for General Elections, 2014. Subsequently, in May 2014, she won the seat with 1,91,362 votes, defeating sitting MP, Congress leader Pawan Bansal who received 1,21,720 votes, while AAP's Gul Panag came in third position with 1,08,679 votes.[31][32]

    As a Member of parliament from Chandigarh and having connection with the film industry, Kirron promised a film city for Chandigarh. After winning the seat, she said that she had difficulty in acquiring land in Chandigarh.[33] However, her proposal was accepted by the Chandigarh Administration and the film city is proposed to be set up in Sarangpur, Chandigarh.[34]

    Kirron Kher, BJP candidate, won in 2019 Indian general election Chandigarh constituency by a margin of 46,970 votes.[35][36]

    Controversy

    After a woman was gang raped by an auto rickshaw driver and his accomplices in Chandigarh in 2017, she suggested that women should avoid traveling with strangers, earning widespread criticism from the opposition and social media.[37][38]

    Filmography
    Year Film Role Language Notes
    2014Punjab 1984Satwant Kaur (Shiva's mother)Punjabi
    KhoobsuratManju (Mili's mother)Hindi
    Total SiyapaaAsha's mother
    2012Ajab Gazabb LoveRashmi Grewal
    2011Mummy PunjabiBaby R. Arora
    2010Action ReplayyBholi Devi
    Milenge MilengeTarot Card Reader
    Alexander the GreatMalayalam
    2009KurbaanNasreen AapaHindi
    Kambakkht IshqAunt Dolly
    2008DostanaMrs. Seema Acharya (Sam's mother)Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
    Saas Bahu Aur SensexBinita Sen[39]
    Singh Is KinngRose Lady (Sonia's mother)
    2007Om Shanti OmBela Makhija (Om's mother)
    ApneRaavi B. Choudhary
    Just MarriedShobha Chaturvedi
    2006I See YouMrs. Dutt
    Kabhi Alvida Naa KehnaKamaljit 'Kamal' SaranNominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
    FanaaNafisa Ali Begum (Zooni's mother)
    Rang De BasantiMitro (DJ's Mother)Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
    2005Mangal Pandey: The RisingLol Bibi
    It Could Be YouMrs. DhillonEnglish
    2004Veer–ZaaraMariam Hayaat Khan (Zaara's mother)Hindi
    Hum TumParminder 'Bobby' Prakash (Rhea's mother)
    Main Hoon NaMadhu Sharma
    Khamosh PaniVeero/Ayesha KhanPunjabi, UrduLux Style Award for Best Film Actress
    2002Karz: The Burden of TruthSavitri DeviHindi
    DevdasSumitra ChakrabortyNominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
    2001Ehsaas: The FeelingAntra's mother
    1999BariwaliBanalataBengaliNational Film Award for Best Actress
    1997Darmiyaan: In BetweenZeenat BegumHindi / Assamese
    1996Sardari BegumSardari BegumHindi National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Feature Film)
    1988PestonjeeSoona Mistrycredited as Kirron Thakursingh–Kher
    1983Aasra Pyaar DaSheelaPunjabi

    Television
    Year Program Language Role Notes
    2009–presentIndia's Got TalentHindiJudge
    2004EREnglishMrs. RasgotraEpisode: Damaged
    PrratimaHindiSunanda Sukumar Roy
    1999–2000KanyadaanHindi
    1999Gubbare[40]Hindi
    1988Isi BahaneHindi

    Awards and nominations

    References
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    2. "Always there, from tiny steps to big leaps". Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Indian Express, 12 May 2002.
    3. "Once more, with feeling". Archived from the original on 10 December 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). desimatch.com
    4. 'Art knows no boundary' Archived 10 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Daily Star, 3 December 2003.
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