As a veteran of Indian cinema, Anupam Kher has worked with stars from all over the world.
But at his first Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of Tanvi the Great, the 70-year-old director and actor shared details of his long-overdue reunion on the French Riviera with screen legend and "dear friend" Robert De Niro.
"We had lunch and it was wonderful," Anupam exclusively tells HELLO! alongside his Tanvi the Great leading lady, Shubhangi.
"I had taken my team too. He also was gracious enough to meet them. It was wonderful."
© SuppliedRobert, who was honoured at the festival’s opening ceremony with the prestigious Palme D’Or award, previously starred alongside Anupam, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the 2012 award-winning film, Silver Linings Playbook.
Though 2025 is Anupam’s first year at the Cannes Film Festival, he and his Tanvi the Great team had the chance to walk the red carpet with A-lister Tom Cruise at the premiere of Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning.
"I think he's one of the finest human beings and actors. That's what comes across from him, and I would have loved to meet others, but everybody's so busy."
© Getty ImagesSpreading kindness on camera
Anupam’s film follows the story of Tanvi, a young woman with autism who has always been told that she is "different, but no less", a message he was keen to convey to the audience as both the director and in his role as Tanvi’s estranged grandfather.
"I've worked a lot with mentally challenged children. I have an organisation…and they are amazing. They have no idea of manipulation. When they hug you, they hug you completely," he mused, adding that creating Tanvi the Great "changed [him] as a person".
"I think it changed 240 people who were on the sets because I told them 'For the next 60 days, we will only be kind. We'll only be kind to each other. We will only be good to each other', because the vibration and energy is very important for all of us, and that's what they were."
'Competence is the biggest enemy of brilliance'
Fans may recognise Anupam from hit 2002 British films Bend it like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice as well as TV shows Spooks and The Boy with the Topknot, the latter of which he was nominated for a BAFTA in 2018.
But when it comes to English-speaking performances, Anupam sees the challenge of speaking in another language as a positive.
"Bend it like Beckham was my first English language film, and I don't think in English, I think in my mother tongue I have to translate in my mind. It comes naturally to you but I have to really work hard, but I loved being part of.
"When you make your job difficult, there's a possibility of you being good at it. It's only when you do so much work then you become competent. I think competence is the biggest enemy of brilliance, so I try to make my job difficult."
