Judge me after I do my job

Mumbai, October 13: Anupam Kher, newly appointed FTII chief, said that he would first take a stock of situation at FTII before chalking out his action plan. The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Students' Association, in an open letter to Kher, raised nine key issues.

The 62-year-old said that this appointment is an extremely important achievement for him as it is rare that "you become chairman of the place where you once were a student". He further stated, “As of now, I am not even thinking about making any changes. The work is going on in full flow there.”

Then just 28, Kher played the role of a retired middle class man grappling with his son's death. After "Saaransh", he went on to star opposite many big Bollywood celebrities, including Anil Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, sometimes as the villain, the comic relief or the friendly father. In 2002, he attempted to become director with "Om Jai Jagadish" but the film was not a success.

Kher is one of the few Indian actors to have crossed over to international cinema with films such as the 2002 Golden Globe nominated "Bend It Like Beckham", Ang Lee's 2007 Golden Lion-winning "Lust, Caution," and "David O Russell's" 2013 Oscar-winning "Silver Linings Playbook". Kher has also written and starred in a play about his own life called "Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai", which was directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.