Anupam Kher's Nights Between the Last and First Trains

Anupam Kher came to Mumbai to find work as an actor. In an interview with Humans of Bombay, reported by Republic World in October 2023, he recalled the nights he spent on railway platforms. He had no place to live, and his routine was set by the trains: he would go to sleep at 1:40 in the morning when the last train left and get up at 4:40 when the first one started, which left him about three hours of rest each night.

The article does not give a year or the total length of this period. It does say how he felt. He described feeling humiliated, as a person and as an actor, and at one point he wanted to give up acting and return to Shimla, Lucknow or Delhi. He did not tell his parents about it, because he did not want to cause them grief.

The person he confided in was his grandfather. His grandfather replied in writing with encouragement, including a Hindi line which roughly means that a man who is already drenched is not afraid of rain. Kher said he kept these words in mind on bad days.

The article notes that he has now worked in the industry for four decades and had six releases in 2023, with more films scheduled for the following year. It does not describe how his circumstances changed in the years between.

He became one of India's best-known film actors, and he continues to speak about the years when he had nowhere to sleep.