The most difficult role of my career: Anupam Kher over essaying Dr Manmohan Singh

Veteran actor Anupam Kher will be seen playing an interesting yet challenging role in his forthcoming political biographical film, The Accidental Prime Minister. The versatile actor plays Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India. The actor has devoted six months just to study the script of the movie. “It was quite challenging to portray the role of a man who was our PM for a decade. To understand the nuances, his body language and to imbibe all the characteristics perfectly was a huge task,” says the actor adding that it took him about six to seven months to prepare for this role. “I watched 100 hours of his footage but the most challenging part was the voice. It is the most difficult role that I have done in my life,” he added.

The veteran actor reveals how he had to rely on meditation for the first time ever to get into the skin of the character.

“I have never meditated before for any of my roles but for this one, I used to meditate. It was a hard process. I also run an acting school and I am not an actor by fluke but here, I have worked really very hard.”

The film also stars Akshay Khanna as Sanjay Baru, Arjun Mathur and Aahana Kumra as Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi, respectively. Suzanne Bernert is essaying the role of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Saaransh actor also revealed that he had turned down the offer earlier. He says, “My first reaction was I should not be part of this film because Dr Manmohan Singh is a current political personality. It’s not in the ’90s or 60’s or black and white era. So my first reaction was I don’t want to do it. But when I was watching TV and saw him walking, the actor in me wanted to test if I can walk like him. I was a disaster and that challenged me to take up this role. I rehearsed for about 45 minutes still and did not get it right. I then decided to read the script and it was great.”