Raju Kher: The TV channel vanished after he sold his flat

Raju Kher has shared one of the most destabilising chapters of his career: he sold his flat to fund a show for a new television channel, and the channel vanished before it ever went on air.

Speaking with Siddharth Kannan, the actor-director recalled that the launch seemed real. Agreements were signed, pilots were being made, and he invested the money from the sale into a programme called Life Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega.

“I thought that I had a first-class life, a 4-BHK house, everything set for the family.”

Raju Kher added that the next thing he knew, the channel was gone and no one had answers. In his telling, there was simply a lock on the door.

In television, a new channel can commission multiple pilots before launch, but a signed agreement does not guarantee that the channel will ever reach the screen.

The family expectation

With no work coming in and rent to pay, Raju said he turned to his brother, Anupam Kher, expecting help. At that point Anupam was already an established actor, but he had paused work because he wanted substantial roles rather than what Raju called “weird films”.

“I felt that my brother did not help me out. ‘He could have done so,’ that was my thought at that time,” Raju said.

The pressure of rent made the disappointment sharper. Raju had no one else to talk to, and the help he expected never came.

The interview that shifted his perspective

The view changed later, after Raju read an interview in which Anupam spoke about wishing he had a child of his own. Anupam is married to actor Kirron Kher, and he has often spoken about treating her son Sikander Kher as his own. Hearing that regret, Raju said, made him realise he had taken his brother for granted.

He had assumed that Anupam’s financial success meant he had no problems. Instead, both brothers were carrying separate struggles at the same time.

Here are the key turns in Raju’s account:

• He sold his flat to invest in a programme for a channel that never launched.
• He expected Anupam Kher to step in financially, but Anupam had paused work for better roles.
• An interview about Anupam’s personal regrets later made Raju see the situation differently.

Raju Kher has worked extensively in Hindi film and television since the 1990s, with credits including Ghulam, Jungle, Shootout at Wadala, Krrish 3, Uunchai and Patna Shuklla. He also directed TV shows such as Sanskaar and Manzile.

The episode is a reminder that even experienced names in show business can be caught by projects that look certain and then disappear, and that family support, or the lack of it, often has a context we cannot see.

Source: Hindustan Times

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#Anupam Kher#Bollywood#Celebrity interview#financial crisis#Indian Television#Life Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega#Raju Kher