Anupam Kher recalls how his scenes were cut from Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, believes it was a good thing

Anupam Kher made his debut in the movie by playing an elderly man in Mahesh Bhatt’s 1984 film Saaransh but before he got his break in that film, Kher had played a “powerful” role in Kundan Shah’s 1983 film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. In a recent chat, Kher recalled that he was very confident in his performance and was certain, that after watching his work, he would definitely get more work.

In a chat with The Times of India while promoting his upcoming film Shiv Shastri Balboa, Kher recalled that he got a chance to work in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro after great difficulty. He said, “Usme badi mushkil se mujhe ek role mila tha. Bada acha role tha, disco killer ka . Bada powerful role tha. Do hi scenes the. This was when I had not gotten Saaransh, so I was very excited ki jo yeh do scenes dekhega voh mujhe kaam zarur dega. (I got a role in that film with great difficulty. It was a great role, of disco killer. Very powerful role. There were only 2 scenes there. This was when I had not gotten Saaransh so I was excited that whosoever watches this, they willd efinitely give me work.)”

Anupam recalled that days before the release of the film, he got a call from director Kundan Shah telling him that his scenes were now chopped out from the film. “Just before the release of the film, Kundan Shah called me up and said, ‘Yaar, film ke length badh rahi thi, maine tere dono scene kaat diye’ (The length of the film is increasing so I have cut both your scenes).”

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Kher said that he later realised that there was a silver lining to this loss and said, “Ab toh meri zindagi ki philosophy yeh hai ki jo aapke sath nahi bhi hota hai, voh bhi acha hi hota hai oherwise mujhe Saaransh mein shayad utna nahi milta. (Now the philosophy of my life is that whatever you miss out on is also for the best. Otherwise, I might have not gotten this much in Saaransh).”

Earlier, filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza, who was a writer on the Kundan Shah film, had also spoken about Kher being a part of the film. At The Indian Express’ Idea Exchange, he said, “In fact, Anupam Kher also acted in the film. He had played the role of a marksman. But we had to edit that footage out of the movie.”