Anupam Kher Says It's Not Easy Being Singh

Actor Anupam Kher opened up about the difficulty of portraying former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh "The Accidental Prime Minister".

Transcript

00:00This is the most difficult role I have done in my life because Dr. Manmohan Singh is known

00:08by everybody.

00:38Everybody had heard the… about the book, about the controversy behind the book, etc.,

00:57etc.

00:58So my first reaction was that I should not be part of this film.

01:02When I was watching TV and I saw Dr. Manmohan Singh walking from one place to another place

01:11and I… in my mind the actor in me sort of said that, let me see if I can walk like him.

01:20I was a disaster.

01:22In my sitting room, in my house, I was a disaster and that challenged me.

01:28In fact, it was as simple as that because… and I rehearsed for about half an hour, forty-five minutes.

01:34I could not get it right.

01:36So then I called them, I said, I will… let me read the script.

01:39And I was very fascinated by the script.

01:41After you couldn't get the walk right, you said…

01:43No, I did not get it right because then I said, now it is challenging me as an actor

01:47and everything is very difficult about Dr. Manmohan Singh, everything.

01:52Discoordinated, very monotonous voice and yet there has to be variations.

01:59And then I said yes to them and I said, we will need time.

02:04And I took about six to seven months to prepare this role.

02:10I must have seen at least hundred hours of footage.

02:15But the most difficult thing was the voice part of it because it's a typical particular voice.

02:21So then I said that, kaam difficult na ho toh usko karne ka kya fayada.

02:26And after all those work and etc., we were very also lucky that we worked…

02:30we did the first schedule in England of forty days, very… we were in a secluded place,

02:37there was nobody else.

02:38We put the room, outside my room it was written Prime Minister because I wanted to be…

02:45I behaved like Dr. Manmohan Singh, everybody had to…

02:48I used to get ready, it used to take me one and a half hours.

02:52And it is the… not one of the most difficult, it is one of…

02:56it is the most difficult role I have done in my life because Dr. Manmohan Singh is known

03:01by everybody.

03:03We see him everybody, even till today he is so active, he is always there.

03:07He is more vocal now than he was in 2014.