Raju Kher recalls selling his house and expecting help from brother Anupam Kher

Actor-director Raju Kher has looked back on the hardest stretch of his career, a phase around 2000 that also changed how he saw his elder brother, veteran actor Anupam Kher. Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Raju said he had counted on Anupam for money at the time. Only later did he learn that his brother was fighting battles of his own.

The trouble began when a new television channel was getting ready to launch. Raju sold his house and put the money into a programme for it, titled 'Life Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega'. Then the channel simply disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a lock on its door. He said he had believed life was settled, with a 4-BHK home and the family taken care of, and he ended up in a rented flat.

With rent to pay and no work coming in, Raju turned to Anupam, the only person he felt he could ask. But Anupam had also stopped working then, because he wanted substantial roles instead of odd films. Raju admitted that back then he felt his brother could have helped him and did not.

His view changed when he read a magazine interview in which Anupam said he wished he had his own child, even though he considers Sikander his own. Raju said the family had taken Anupam for granted, assuming his financial success meant he had no worries. He called 2000 the year that changed his thinking, and said that from that day he stopped expecting anything from anyone.

Raju also recalled trying rings, rituals and prayers on the advice of others as his expenses kept rising. A few months later he told his wife they should trust God and took the rings off. The very next day he got a call offering him a TV serial, and he said he agreed at once and told them to pay whatever they wanted.

Earlier this year, Anupam said on a YouTube chat show that he has been supporting Raju financially for years and has never kept count. He also praised his wife Kirron Kher for never questioning how much he does for his brother.