Mr Hawa Hawai

He’s a stooping old man who’s got just one thing on his mind. “Airplanes,” says actor Anupam Kher,about his latest film,Hawai Dada. “Today’s urban youngster will find it difficult to understand this obsession with flying. For a small-town person,flying is a big dream,” says the actor. The film,made only for television,will premier on UTV Movies on September 25.

The protagonist in this two-hour-long film does not rush around saving damsels in distress,neither does he take part in any adrenaline-soaked fight against evil. Instead,Hawai Dada is a heartening story about a child and her grandfather,and their wish to travel in an airplane. Kher,who plays the eponymous central protagonist,confessed that it was not easy for him to play the role of a simpleton. “His slight fogginess gives him that child-like innocence,which was hard to portray,” admits the actor. Interestingly,Kher’s first film,when he was a newcomer in the 1980s,had him essaying the role of a retired schoolteacher in Saraansh. That remains one of his most moving roles.

Now,once again as an old man,he tugs at the emotional strings of the viewers with Hawai Dada. “Films are not just about dazzling the audience,not just about a protagonist fighting off thousands of bad guys. They are more about simple storytelling. When it comes to storytelling,children are obviously involved. I think that’s the reason I get along with children well,” says Kher.