Kirron Kher
Born	Kiran Thakar Singh (1955-06-14) 14 June 1955 (age 57) Mumbai, India
Occupation	Actress
Spouse	Anupam Kher (1985–present) Gautam Berry (divorced)
Children	Sikandar Kher

Kirron Kher (also Kiran^[1] or, Mummy Punjabi, Kiron^[2][3][4] Punjabi: ਕਿਰਣ ਖੇਰ; born 14 June 1955) is an Indian theatre, film and television actress and a TV talk show host.

Early life[link]

Kirron Kher was born in Bangalore and brought up in Chandigarh, Punjab, where she did her schooling and later college from Panjab University, Chandigarh. At school she was an avid badminton player with her sister, Arjuna award Kanwal Thakar Singh. Their mother, Diljit Singh, was active in sports and dramatics during her college days in pre-partition Punjab.^[1] Kirron had a brother, artist Amardeep Singh, who died in 2003.^[5]

Career[link]

Kirron Kher made her film debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da and received rave reviews for her performance. She soon took a hiatus from films^[6] following her divorce to raise her son, Sikander Kher. Meanwhile, she worked for her second husband Anupam Kher as a costume designer and appeared in one film in between, Pestonjee in 1988, wherein she acted alongside Anupam Kher.

Her return to acting came about with theatre, with the play Saalgirah, by playwright Javed Siddiqui and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.^[2] Then she hosted three television shows, starting with Purushkshetra on Zee TV which got her much acclaimed for bringing out the discussion of sexuality to the forum for the first time, while highlighting women's issues at the same time,^[7] Kiron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kiron Kher, before doing Bollywood films.^[8]

Her comeback film was by Shyam Benegal, Sardari Begum (1996), which won her the Special Jury Award at the 1997 National Film Awards.

In 2000, she appeared in film director Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film Bariwali 1999, to critical acclaim.^[3] When she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the film, a controversy arose as a Bangla film actress, Rita Koiral, claimed that she had dubbed for the character of Kirron, making her an equal claimant to the award. Kirron refuted the charges claiming she spent hours rehearsing for her dialogue delivery, and the award was eventually not shared.^[3][4]

In 2002, Kirron appeared in Devdas (2002), alongside Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai, and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award.

In Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) (2003),^[9] a film that portrays the plight of a woman abducted during partition of India, her character not only refused to kill herself as suggested by her family, but marries her abductor and, after his death, makes an earning teaching Quran to local children. It shows how her life changes dramatically when her son takes up Islamic extremism in 1979 during the rule of Zia-ul-Haq and his process of Islamization of Pakistan.^[10] She won the Best Actress Award, at Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland, the Karachi International Film Festival, Karachi, and International Festivals at Ciepie in Argentina,^[11] and Cape Town in South Africa ^[3][12] while the film won the Best Film – Golden Leopard, Festival Grand Prize at Locarno.^[13]

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) 2004 paid tribute to Kirron during its annual festival.^[14][15]

In October 2004 Kirron made a guest appearance, along with her husband, in the American TV series ER playing Parminder Nagra's mother, Mrs. Rasgotra, in episode "Damaged."^[16]

In 2005, she essayed the role of role of Sunanda in the tele-serial Prratima on Sahara One channel, before which she had appeared in TV series like Dil Na Jaane Kyon (Zee TV), Isi Bahane, and Chausath Panne.^[17]

Despite playing mostly supporting roles, her successful movies include Main Hoon Na (2004), Hum Tum (2004), Veer-Zaara (2004), and Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), where her performance drew rave reviews.^[18] Her work in Rang De Basanti (2006) was a huge hit and her performance got her second nomination for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. Her role in Fanaa (2006) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) also received appreciation. Adding to her list of comical roles in 2008 she appeared in Singh is Kinng, Saas bahu aur Sensex and Dostana. In 2009, she appeared as judge on India's Got Talent, the Indian franchise of the Got Talent series.

Personal life[link]

She gave birth to actor Sikandar Kher,^[19] from her first marriage to businessman and actor Gautam Berry, which ended in 1985. She then married actor Anupam Kher, whom she first met at Department of Indian Theatre in Chandigarh in 1974; after which Anupam Kher went to Delhi and joined National School of Drama (NSD), while Kirron went to Bombay and got married to her first husband. They subsequently met while working in a play called Chanadpuri Ki Champabai. They married in 1985; now they run a production house.^[5][20]

In 2003, she changed her name from "Kiron" to "Kirron" due to beliefs in numerology.^[21]

She has a great liking for collecting jewellery and sarees. In most films she wears her own jewellery and clothes. She recently acted as a judge in India's Got Talent.

Awards[link]

• 1997: National Film Award - Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film): Sardari Begum
• 2000: National Film Award for Best Actress: Bariwali
• 2003: IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award: Devdas
• 2003: Locarno International Film Festival: Bronze Leopard Award : Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) ^[22]
• 2003: Karachi International Film Festival: Best Female Actor in a Leading Role: Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters) ^[23]
• 2006: Star Screen Award Best Supporting Actress: Rang De Basanti
• 2010: Apsara Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Kurbaan

Nominations

• 2003: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Devdas
• 2007: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Rang De Basanti
• 2008: Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award: Dostana

Filmography[link]

Television[link]