A Wednesday (2008), starring, actors Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher, had earned critical acclaim upon its release and enjoys a cult status today. As the movie clocks 15 years, Kher shares,“As long as there is terrorism in this world, this film will be relevant. A Wednesday had its own language. That’s why it will remain an important film, whether 15 or 50 years have passed. The film’s story was told in a different manner and there were no songs. It was not influenced by how films were shot in those days.”

A thriller, the film depicts a a cat-and-mouse game between an anonymous caller and a police commissioner. Shah, who plays the angry common man, threatens to detonate bombs throughout Mumbai if four terrorists are not freed.

Kher shares an interesting piece of trivia: the only scene in the film where Shah and Kher share the frame was shot on the first day. “We started the shoot backwards; the climax was done first. It was also one of those few scripts where not a single word was changed — the film was shot as it was written, which is unbelievable,” he says, adding, it was remade into a Sri Lankan film A Common Man (2013) starring actor Ben Kingsley.

Kher was approached by then newcomer, director Neeraj Pandey for the film so before reading the script, the actor had certain reservations.

“When the script was brought to me, I was working on other films. The makers said they don’t have a big budget, so they will pay half of what I charged then. When I read the script on a flight from Delhi to Mumbai, I was mesmerized. I was just hoping Neeraj had not gone to someone else. I called him and said I want to be a part of the film. I agreed to do the film at half of my fee,” shares the 68-year-old.

Once complete, the film faced a tough time as it didn’t have buyers. “Nobody was ready to release it. It took three years for us to release the film in theatres. Once it did, I felt a sense of vindication that it did well, and the audiences loved it. I don’t go into that terrain of box office numbers though...I just do my job and move on,” Kher ends.