Anupam impressed by Mr. Modi

Anupam Kher is running ahead of time.
After a hectic schedule, he���s in Ahmedabad for a special screening of debutant filmmaker Neeraj Pandey���s A Wednesday for the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, after which he gets busy with more promotional work for the film and shooting for more films of course.
For someone who started off his acting career at 27, playing an old man in Mahesh Bhatt���s Saaransh, life has been one rollercoster ride for him.Two decades on, Kher is an international celebrity, has an acting academy and a rich professional CV to talk about.
Well, what made him arrange a screening for Modi, who���s not known to be a movie buff really? Kher says, ���Mr Modi feels very strongly about terrorism and is vocal about his thoughts. A Wednesday also deals with terrorism. We want this film to reach the common man. That���s why we are planning to watch the movie in Gujarat and then in Delhi and Rajasthan too.���
So, is it a marketing strategy? ���This is a small budget film. And it is certainly a medium to reach the mass.��� Is Modi a medium too? ���Yes, why not?��� he acknowledges.
When quizzed about the role he plays in the film, he says, ���I play the character of a police commissioner who receives a call from an anonymous person (played by Naseeruddin Shah) and the entire movie is a cat and mouse race. Thereafter comes a twist which I will not reveal.���
Bollywood���s got a new brave lot of filmmakers. What is it like working with them? Kher feels this, ���is the golden era for Hindi film industry. Movies like Khosla ka Ghosla and Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara could never be made earlier. Today they have found their niche audience.���
The actor has two flicks releasing this year, C-Kompany and Sankat City and ���other international projects in the pipeline���. A social do-gooder, Kher strongly feels for the underprivileged children and confesses to wanting to start ���an orphanage.���
How is it being in Ahmedabad? ���I���m really attached to the city. My friend Anang Desai hails from Ahmedabad. I have very fond memories of Ellisbridge with him,��� he signs off.