Actor-director Anupam Kher is set to traverse the holy land of Varanasi next. The filmmaker recently revealed that his next film, starring and directed by him, will be set in the spiritual place.
In a conversation with Variety, he said that the film would be not only set there but would also tell its story from the perspective of a local. He described the character as "a 70-year-old man who feels like a 28-year-old man". He suggested that the upcoming film would be a spiritual successor to Saaransh, the 1984 drama starring him and directed by Mahesh Bhatt.
For the uninitiated, Saaransh follows a couple grieving the passing of their son. However, when an actor, who has a romantic relationship with a politician's son, starts to live with the couple, a conflict ensues. Anupam's character in the film expresses much anger, which is rooted in his grief and sense of indignation towards corruption. Calling his upcoming film essentially Saaransh 2, Anupam said that the character in it would not be as passive as his protagonist in the 1984 film.
Interestingly, the film would bring a stark contrast between itself and the 1984 drama in terms of characterisation. In Saaransh, the actor played a character aged 65 years while he was only aged about half of it at the time. "I portrayed 65 what I thought 65 will be like, but I’m going to be 71 on March 7, I feel like a 28-year-old man," he said. The actor-filmmaker is yet to reveal further details about the film.
Anupam last directed Tanvi the Great, starring Shubhangi Dutt as an autistic person.
