At the launch of Anupam Kher’s latest book Nothing But No Less, actor Boman Irani took a heartfelt moment to share his awe-inspiring experience of working with Kher on the film Tanvi The Great. Speaking to an intimate gathering, Irani not only reflected on the film’s journey but also painted a vivid picture of Kher’s unwavering ambition and artistic courage.
Recalling the days surrounding the release of Tanvi The Great, Boman said: “When the film got made, we were expecting a small release. But then Anupam said, ‘First we’ll go to Cannes.’ And we went. Then he said, ‘We’ll go to London’ Post that, he said, ‘Now we’ll go to New York to meet Bob.’ For him, he is Bob. For us, he’s Robert De Niro!”
“Then we went to Houston, then Austin… and finally, back to India. We had screenings here and received standing ovations. We even went to Delhi to meet the President. Just look at that journey! What this film has done- not just for him, but for all of us.”
With a touch of wit, Boman added: “He has the Northern Command, Southern Command, Western Command, he has conquered all fronts!”
While Tanvi The Great could easily be labeled an art-house film meant for limited release, Irani emphasized that Anupam Kher never thought small—not in his mind, not in his work. “By definition, this is the kind of film you’d expect to be released conservatively maybe in a few theatres, or not at all. But not in his head. Nothing inside his head is small.”
“The only thing small is the way you choose to look at what you create. The moment you believe it’s big, it becomes big for the world too.”
That belief, according to Boman, was evident at every stage of Tanvi The Great- from writing and directing to producing and globe-trotting for screenings.
“Who has the guts to do something like that? To find the money, to rally the team, to carry it around the world? That takes not just vision—but heart.”
Boman Irani’s moving words were not just a tribute to a film, but to the man behind it—Anupam Kher—whose passion knows no ceilings. The event, held for the launch of Nothing But No Less, became a moment of reflection on how vision, belief, and audacity can take a simple idea and make it resonate across continents.
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