Tom Alter was American, but more Indian than many Indians: Anupam Kher

Anupam Kher remembers Tom Alter, who died of skin cancer on Friday, for his warm nature ; says he was very affectionate.

Actor Anupam Kher was shocked to hear about the death of his “wonderful friend and colleague”, actor Tom Alter, who lost his battle to skin cancer at the age of 67 on Friday morning. In an interview with us, Kher recalls working with Tom, and more than a colleague, remembers him as a “great human being”.

Actor Anupam Kher remebers Tom Alter as a wonderful human being (Photo: Shivam Saxena/ HT Photo)

“Tom was a great human being. First of all, he was an American who was probably more Indian than many of the Indians. His tehzeeb and his command over Urdu was terrific. He was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India, rightly so, for his amazing contribution to arts and cinema,” Kher recalls.

Tom Alter died on Friday after battling skin cancer for years.

Apart from being a colleague, Kher remembers Tom for his warm nature. “He was a very warm, affectionate person, and more importantly a wonderful guy,” he recalls adding, “ I met him a few months back, and he looked absolutely fine then. Only 10-15 days back someone told me about him suffering from galloping skin cancer. I was shocked to hear about his death today, as soon as I landed in Delhi,” Kher says.

Kher reveals that he was disappointed that he didn’t get to spend enough time with the veteran actor and says,“You know these days... the problem with our lives is that we only think about a relationship after that person has died. Then suddenly the entire associations rolls back in front our eyes and mind like a flashback, and you wonder if you could have probably spent some more time with them. These days we don’t even get to mourn a person, and things like these end up becoming an event, instead of it being like the end of an era, or an end of life.”

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