After 38 years in cinema, I'm on main poster of film: Anupam Kher on ‘Shiv Shastri Balboa’

Veteran actor Anupam Kher says his upcoming feature “Shiv Shastri Balboa” is a special film as it gave him the opportunity to play a title role after being around in showbiz for over three decades.

Directed by Ajayan Venugopalan, the movie is billed as a fascinating tale of survival of an Indian in a small town in America.

Kher, who co-stars with Neena Gupta in ”Shiv Shastri Balboa”, said he is happy for the both of them to have received the opportunity to finally shoulder a film. “Neena and I have been doing so much work for years. Now, we have got this recognition. Earlier, I would have a small face on a poster of a film. Now, after 38 years in the movie business I am on the main poster with my heroine. That is a great achievement.

”All this you can achieve with hard work and not necessarily (with) stardom. In my 37 years of career, there are many people who came and went, but we are still here,” the actor, known for ”Saraansh”, ”Karma”, and ”The Kashmir Files”, told reporters here on Tuesday evening.

He was speaking at the trailer launch of “Shiv Shastri Balboa”.

Gupta, who saw career resurgence following films such as ”Badhaai Ho”, ”Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar” and Netflix series ”Masaba Masaba”, said she feels blessed to not get stereotyped as a mother on screen. “I am getting to do good roles that are close to my age. I am not just playing the mummy roles. In one film, I am playing the title role. It is a very big thing for me,” she said.

”This divide between supporting actors shouldn’t be there. An actor is an actor, irrespective of whether they are in a supporting role or not, I will do my job honestly as an actor,” she added.

”Shiv Shastri Balboa” also features ”The Family Man” star Sharib Hashmi and Nargis Fakhri of “Rockstar” fame.

Fakhri said she was thrilled to play a supporting role in “Shiv Shastri Balboa”, which she describes as a realistic film.

“I have seen the change that has happened in the past couple of years. A lot of movies and series are happening on OTT, I have seen that content is the most important thing. ”When I read this story, I knew it was original and real, and the characters are important to the story. I am a supporting actor (in this film), I believe without me it (story) will be incomplete,” she added.

Hashmi said he is thrilled to be part of the film and paired opposite Fakhri.

”Shiv Shastri Balboa” will hit the theatres on February 10.