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Anupam Kher's controversial personality: Are global fans aware of 'New Amsterdam' actor's social media spats?

Anupam Kher doesn't shy away from public spats with movie stars and politicians alike

Anupam Kher has been something of a Bollywood veteran for decades now, but it’s only of late that Kher has been catapulted into the global spotlight, as Dr Vijay Kapoor on NBC’s Medical drama ‘ New Amsterdam'. Kher has been lauded for the ease he brings to the portrayal of his character, a respected neurologist. Anupam Kher may now be a familiar face to a global audience, but we wonder how much international audiences actually know about Kher beyond his character. 

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After all in India Kher is almost as well as known for the stands he takes off screen as the ones he takes on screen. Kher is known to be extremely vocal with his take on Indian politics and often tends to be right leaning.

Whether its politicians or fellow actors Kher doesn't shy away from a fight. Kher is known to be particularly vocal about the issue of Kashmiri Pandits and the treatment they have faced, which many in India are, but it was for a picture in July 2016 that Kher tweeted that he received a lot of negative feedback for. The image was a disturbing one of butchered Kashmiri Pandits. However Kher, a Kashmiri Pandit himself defended his decision with this tweet.

Kher has also got into several spats with other members of the Indian film fraternity over the years most notably with Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and more recently with actor Naseeruddin Shah. 

In January of 2020 when the anti-CAA protests in India  were at their peak, veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah had this to say about Kher who was supporting the Indian goverment's policies. Shah said, "Someone like Anupam Kher has been very vocal. I don’t think he needs to be taken seriously. He’s a clown. Any number of his contemporaries from NFD and FTII can attest to his sycophantic nature. It’s in his blood, he can’t help it.”

Anupam Kher responded to his co-star in films liked 'A Wednesday' with this video essentially saying that Shah in spite of all his success is frustrated.

 Kher's Bollywood battles don't end there. When a controversy erupted over  superstar Aamir Khan's statement that he wanted to move out of India, Kher was quick to respond.

Since Kher is so vocal about politics it is not surprising that he has tackled politicians on social media as well. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Kher got into a war of words on Twitter when Tharoor commented on Kher’s statement, “I am scared to be called a Hindu”.

To which Anupam retorted that Tharoor was simply a 'Congi Chamcha', loosely translated as a sycophant of the Congress party. Kher has also been called out for his hypocrisy particularly when it comes to awards on Twitter.  When he won the Padma Bhushan award, Kher was delighted.

However, it did not seem to gel with his earlier view on awards.

There certainly is a lot more to Anupam Kher than just the role of Dr Vijay Kapoor. With 'New Amsterdam' going from strength to strength, we're sure eventually international audiences will begin to be more interested in Kher and not just Kapoor. From what we have seen of Anupam Kher on social media, you can love him or hate him but you can't ignore him.