He is modern-day mixture of Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee: Anupam Kher lauds director Anurag Basu

Jun 14, 2025

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 14 : Actors Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta, who are set to star in the upcoming film 'Metro...In Dino', shared their experience of working with director Anurag Basu in the movie.
In a conversation with ANI, the 'Saraansh' actor lauded the filmmaking skills of director Anurag Basu and called him a "modern-day" mixture of legendary filmmakers Basu Chatterjee ( 'Chhoti Si Baat', 'Chitchor') and Hrishikesh Mukherjee (Anand).
"I worked with him many years ago. I have seen his films. I have seen Metro, which was made a few years ago. Few directors have the ease that what they are making is related to life. It is related to their own experience. You read the script. He knows the film better. I think it is his way of making the film alive. Actors prepare beforehand. But in a different way, like how Basu Chatterjee or Rishikesh Mukherjee used to work. I would say he is the modern-day mixture of both of them," said Anupam Kher.
Kher further called Anurag Basu one of the "great directors" of this generation. He said, "No matter how successful the actors are, they are all dying to work with great directors. He is one of them."
Anupam Kher plays the role of a retired man in the film who lives in Kolkata with his daughter-in-law.
As for Neena Gupta, the actress plays the role of a married Bengali woman with two daughters, Konkana and Sara, in the film. Situations take a turn in her life when she receives an invitation to a college reunion.
The 'Vadh' actress also expressed her happiness of working with director Basu in the film, calling it a "dream" come true moment for her.
Neena Gupta said, "I was very excited because it was my dream to work with him. I never thought he would hire me. The most interesting thing about him is, that suppose there is a scene where he gives us dialogues. We are doing it. He suddenly gets an idea. He says, Neena, do this. I said, Wow, that's a fantastic idea. I never thought of this. That is amazing. It happens again and again. He improvises in writing. You feel, why didn't I think of this?"

The trailer of 'Metro...In Dino' was released earlier this month. Along with Kher and Gupta, the film also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sara Ali Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, and Ali Fazal.
The trailer gave us a sneak peek into the love stories of the couples - Sara Ali Khan and Aditya Roy Kapur, Konkona Sen Sharma and Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal and Fatima Sana Shaikh, Anupam Kher and Neena Gupta.
It follows four different love stories of couples -- young, old, and middle-aged -- living in a metro, and serves as the spiritual sequel to Anurag Basu's 2007 film Life in a... Metro.
The movie will be released in theatres on July 4.