How Kirron Kher divorced first husband to marry Anupam Kher: ‘He had nothing then’

Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher have been married since 1985, and are parents to Kirron’s son from her first marriage, Sikandar Kher. On her birthday, here’s a throwback to when she spoke about their relationship, and how they went from being just friends to a romantic couple.

Kirron Kher said in a 2013 interview that they were very close with each other, but their bond never crossed the threshhold of platonic friendship. At the time, they were both married to other people.

“We both were in theatre in Chandigarh, and we were the best of friends. There was nothing he did not know about me, and I knew everything about him, up to the extent of knowing which girl he was planning to ‘patao’. It was fun and we worked together well too. But there was no attraction of any kind beyond friendship,” she told Firstpost.

She continued, “Well, I came to Bombay, I married Gautam (Berry), and we discovered that the marriage was just not happening. Anupam too had been married, and that had gone wrong. He and I were still good friends, doing plays together. I remember, we were going to Calcutta for Nadira Babbar’s play, he came looking different, his head was shaved, for some film he was doing I think. When he was leaving the room, he looked back at me, and something passed between us. Later he came and knocked on my door, and said ‘I want to talk to you.’ He then said ‘I think I have fallen in love with you.’ And suddenly there was this immense, intense change, the chemistry exploded. I got a divorce and married him. He had nothing then.”

Kirron, who put her acting career on the side after her marriage, is a Member of Parliament. Anupam recently revealed in a social media statement that she had been diagnosed with cancer. In follow-up updates, he said that she was responding well to the treatment.

Anupam Kher took to Twitter and shared a birthday message for Kirron. He wrote, “Happy birthday dearest #Kirron!! May God give you long, healthy & happy life. People world over love you for the person you are! You deal with every situation in life with an amazing inner strength & grace! Stay healthy & stay safe! Love & prayers always!!”

Also read: Anupam Kher slams journalist’s ‘unbelievably insensitive’ remarks about wife Kirron Kher: ‘Shame on you’

Sikandar in a recent social media post shared a video of both Anupam and Kirron at home — the first glimpse of her that fans got following her diagnosis, after she was photographed getting a Covid-19 vaccine.