Anupam Kher Calls Social Media ‘Magic’ in New X Post

Veteran actor Anupam Kher used a post on X on June 23 to argue that social media is “magic” when used for storytelling, framing the medium as a creative canvas whose value depends on what each user decides to bring to it. The post carried four photographs credited to photographer @DaphaleMansing and was paired with a song from Kher’s stage play #JaanePehchaaneAnjane. It reads as a direct counter to the dangers-first conversation that has shaped public discussion of these platforms.

Kher conceded in the same post that the medium carries “pitfalls,” as every aspect of life does. His argument, he wrote, rests on what each user decides to put on the feed.

What the Post Argues, in Its Own Words

Kher opened by conceding the warnings that surround the medium. “I often hear people talk about the dangers of social media,” the post begins. “And yes, like everything else in life, it has its pitfalls.”

The pivot comes on the third line. “But I have also discovered something beautiful about it,” Kher wrote, before listing what he values in the platforms he has used for years. The transition from warning to appreciation is direct, and it carries the rest of the post with it. That sets up the post’s central metaphor.

A photograph can become a memory. A song can become an emotion. A simple thought can travel across continents and connect with someone you’ve never met.

That chain is the heart of the post. A picture becomes a keepsake, a song becomes a feeling, a thought travels across continents and meets a stranger. Sometimes a post becomes a conversation, Kher wrote, and a conversation can grow into a relationship.

For Kher, the medium isn’t a simple distribution channel. “For me, social media is not just about sharing. It is about storytelling,” he wrote, attaching a song from his play #JaanePehchaaneAnjane to underline the point. The post closes by tying the practice to a feeling he says he still gets after years on the platform. “That, to me, is the magic of social media,” he wrote, ending the thread on the word that has run through the post from its second line.

The Photos and the Song Behind It

The post carried four images credited to photographer @DaphaleMansing, the handle visible at the foot of Kher’s thread on X. The photographs visual-set the post’s central argument about images becoming memories, with each frame serving as the kind of keepsake Kher’s text describes.

The audio is a song from Kher’s stage play #JaanePehchaaneAnjane, attached to the post as a sound bed. The pairing is deliberate, Kher’s framing makes clear: words, pictures, music and feeling are meant to be combined in a single creative expression on the platform. The post’s hashtags, #SocialMedia, #Creativity, #Connection and #Storytelling, signal the same four elements. The thread, in Kher’s telling, is meant to be read as one piece.

The post pulled 32,716 views, 516 likes, 25 reposts and 37 replies, the figures visible on the thread page. The thread was posted on June 23, 2026, at 8:17 pm, the timestamp visible at the foot of the X post.

• Views: 32,716
• Likes: 516
• Reposts: 25
• Replies: 37
• Posted: June 23, 2026, 8:17 pm
• Hashtags: #SocialMedia, #Creativity, #Connection, #Storytelling

Kher’s Post Pushes Back Against the Doom Narrative

Kher’s thread enters a public conversation that has tilted heavily toward cataloguing the harms attributed to the platforms. Op-eds, hearings and research papers have spent recent years itemising what social media does to mental health, politics and relationships, and the volume of that coverage is hard to miss.

His framing rests on an inversion of the usual argument. The platform itself is not the problem, Kher wrote. What each user decides to bring to the feed is what determines whether the experience becomes a “wonderful canvas for creativity and human connection” or a source of harm. The argument stands out against the prevailing tone of the conversation.

The post names the conditions that make the medium work for him. Used with positivity, kindness and imagination, Kher wrote, the platforms can be a “wonderful canvas for creativity and human connection.” The three conditions aren’t presented as a manifesto but as a personal formula, one Kher says he returns to in his own practice.

“The medium is not the problem,” Kher wrote in the post. “What we bring to it is what makes all the difference.” That line is the post’s hinge, and it carries the rest of the argument. The closing word is the one Kher has used in interviews and on stage for years: magic.

The Argument Tanvi the Great Already Made

The argument in Kher’s X post is a familiar one for him. In 2025 he directed and produced Tanvi the Great, a Hindi-language drama about a 21-year-old woman on the autism spectrum who is determined to join the Indian Army.

Tanvi Raina, the title character, is inspired by Kher’s real-life niece Tanvi. The film follows her attempt to fulfill her late father’s dream of saluting the national flag at Siachen Glacier, with Kher himself playing her grandfather, Colonel Pratap Raina. Shubhangi Dutt plays the lead in her feature debut, carrying the film’s emotional centre. The 160-minute film was released in theatres on 18 July 2025 to a mixed critical response.

The film was co-produced by Anupam Kher Studio and the National Film Development Corporation of India, with music by M. M. Keeravani. It premiered at the Cannes Market in April 2025 before its theatrical release three months later. The film’s score and soundtrack were released on 5 July 2025.

The film earned mixed reviews from Indian critics. The Times of India gave it four out of five stars for “emotionally honest storytelling that avoids melodrama,” while the Hollywood Reporter India called the central theme a “secondary theme in its own film.” NDTV gave it two stars. The full credited roster gives a sense of the scale of the production.

The cast Kher assembled for the production is anchored by veterans of Indian cinema, with one international name in the mix. The full list of credited players is below.

• Anupam Kher as Colonel Pratap Raina
• Shubhangi Dutt as Tanvi Raina
• Arvind Swami as Major Srinivasan
• Iain Glen as Michael Simmons
• Boman Irani as Raza Sahab
• Jackie Shroff as Brigadier Joshi
• Pallavi Joshi as Vidya Raina
• Karan Tacker as Captain Samar Raina
• Nassar as Brigadier KN Rao

A History of the Platform for Kher

Kher is a heavy social media user, not a passing commentator. His verified X account is the handle that carried the June 23 thread, and his feed there carries regular posts on craft, family and current events. The June 23 post fits a long pattern of using the platform to share staged creative work rather than fleeting updates. The post’s use of photographs, a song and a hashtag roll-out is the same pattern he’s used for years.

The platform has not always been kind to Kher in return. He has publicly warned followers about imposter accounts operating in his name, asking fans to ignore them. He has also publicly questioned the platform’s owner over an account lock that prompted him to seek clarification.

The June 23 post sits inside that longer, sometimes complicated relationship with the medium he now calls magic. Kher’s argument, taken as a whole, is that the platform can be what its users make of it, for better or worse, and that the choice is theirs. The conclusion is the same one he reached after years of practice on the platforms: the medium isn’t the problem, what each user brings to it is.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Anupam Kher say about social media in his X post?

Kher’s June 23 post argued that social media becomes a creative canvas rather than a problem when used with positivity, kindness and imagination. He called the medium “magic” when a picture, a thought and a song come together to tell a story, and credited the post’s photographs to photographer @DaphaleMansing.

When did Anupam Kher make the post about social media?

Kher posted on X on June 23, 2026, at 8:17 pm, the timestamp visible on the post. The thread carried the hashtags #SocialMedia, #Creativity, #Connection and #Storytelling, and was paired with a song from his stage play #JaanePehchaaneAnjane.

What is Tanvi the Great, and how does it connect to the post?

Tanvi the Great is a 2025 Hindi-language drama directed and produced by Kher, and the title role is played by debutante Shubhangi Dutt. The film follows Tanvi Raina, a young woman on the autism spectrum who is determined to join the Indian Army to fulfill her late father’s dream of saluting the flag at Siachen Glacier. The film’s themes of dignity, difference and human connection run parallel to the argument Kher made in his X post.

Who plays the lead role in Tanvi the Great?

Shubhangi Dutt plays the title role of Tanvi Raina in her feature debut, with Anupam Kher himself playing her grandfather, Colonel Pratap Raina. The supporting cast includes Arvind Swami, Iain Glen, Boman Irani, Jackie Shroff, Pallavi Joshi, Karan Tacker and Nassar.

How have people reacted to Anupam Kher’s social media post?

The post pulled 32,716 views, 516 likes, 25 reposts and 37 replies on X, the figures visible on the thread page. The argument for treating social media as a creative canvas has circulated among Kher’s followers and beyond, with the post’s photographs and song pairing extending the reach of the text.