"What do they think of themselves? Last week I was very very peeved by their laidback attitude. These youngsters know nothing about struggle. They're brought to Mumbai by Zee, put up in 5-star comfort. They'd never know what it is to be strugglers.
I know. I've gone through the grind. When I came to Mumbai from Simla I got pushed around from one producer's office to another. Even today my fellow-judge Madhur Bhandarkar tells me has has 30 aspirants waiting outside his office every day...
And then to hear these youngsters with their cushy prospects complaining about their paining backs and squabbling amongst themselves for stupid reasons, was too much."
Anupam didn't participate in one episode of Zee Cine Stars. "But as soon as I'm back from my shooting in Shanghai I'll be back on the show."
At the moment Anupam is having the time of his life in Shanghai. "Though it's freezing at minus-0 temperature I don't feel the cold. The people out here in China are as hospitable as we are back home. Not for a moment do I feel like an outside.
And Ang Lee has put up a massive lavish Hollywood-styled set, the kind we used to see in the films of Cecil de Mille, etc. The technicians including the cameraman are the same as Brokeback Mountain."
Anupam is overwhelmed by Ang Lee's humility. "The first thing he said to me was, 'It's an honour to meet you, Mr Kher. Thank you for agreeing to work in my film.' I nearly choked on his modesty."
Anupam is the only Indian in the film set during World War 2. "So I play a normal guy dressed in a suit. None of the exotic mumbjumbo that Asian actors are associated with in big Hollywood films."