MEET SIKANDAR KHER 2.0

Having ended 2022 with a bang with Monica, O My Darling, a movie where he managed to wow the audience with his short but nuanced act, Sikandar Kher is looking at a busy 2023. Not only does he have the third season of Aarya coming up, his first Hollywood movie might also hit the theatres this year

- Ananya Ghosh

Post his 2022 turn as Nishikant Adhikari it is difficult to dismiss Sikandar Kher as an actor. The 41-year-old, who had made his debut way back in 2008 with Hansal Mehta-directed Woodstock Villa, and went on to act in movies like Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, Players, Aurangzeb, Tere Bin Laden 2, The Zoya Factor, and more recently Sooryavanshi, proved his acting prowess in the Sushmita Sen-starrer International Emmy-nominated Disney+Hotstar web series Aarya. The Ram Madhvani directorial, which will soon drop its third season, sees Kher as the intense, brooding, unflinchingly loyal, and cold killing machine, Daulat. The actor is complex and nuanced and lives the part. But in Vasal Bala's 2022 Netflix thriller, Monica, O My Darling, he sparkles as the flamboyant Nishikant Adhikari - a character that deserves his own spin-off. Although he gets a relatively short screen time, he imbues Nishikant - the arrogant and scheming son of the head of the Unicorn group who although born into privilege, is side-lined in his own company that celebrates meritocracy over nepotism - with main character energy and a devilish charm.

In fact, Nishikant and Sikandar have that in common - both are born into the industry they eventually chose to make a career in (thankfully, the parallel begins and ends there). The son of veteran actors, Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher [step-father], Kher was always in love with the movies. And it had not taken him too long to decide on following in his parents' footsteps. "I must have been around six or seven years old.

The first Top Gun movie had come out. After watching it, I wanted to be a fighter pilot. But then I realised that I actually wanted to be Tom Cruise," he guffaws.