Kiran Kher made her film debut in 1983 in the Punjabi feature film Aasra Pyar Da, a non-descript production which sank without a trace. After this, she took a hiatus from films. Between 1983 and 1996, she appeared in exactly one film, Pestonjee (1987), wherein she acted in a bit role alongside her second husband Anupam Kher.Her return to acting came in the mid-1990s, through theatre, with the play Saalgirah written by playwright Javed Siddiqui and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan.[2] She then hosted three television shows, starting with the short-lived Purushkshetra on Zee TV which got attention for bringing out the discussion of alternative sexuality for the first time, while also highlighting women's issues. Kiron Kher Today and Jagte Raho with Kiron Kher, before doing Bollywood films.Her comeback film was by Shyam Benegal, Sardari Begum (1996), which won her the Special Jury Award at the 1997 National Film Awards.