Anupam Kher on the importance of being truthful, as he reveals a valuable advice his grandfather once gave him
Navneet Vyasan (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 28, 2019)

When one watches Anupam Kher on TV (in interviews, not necessarily shows), films and most importantly on stage, they find him rather confident. The actor says, “I come across as confident and powerful because I speak the truth.” A graduate of the ’78 batch of National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi, Kher says he has not yet let the “young actor” in him die.

Known for his performances on stage, most recently, Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha and Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai, Kher is surprisingly only a year junior to actor Neena Gupta — his co-star from Mera Woh Matlab Nahi Tha — when he was in NSD.

And the concept of the truth, resonates with the actor, when one thinks of Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai for he’s been performing it for almost 10 years now. It was this autobiographical play on “how he made it”, that had him take his audience through different stages of his life. “It is more about my failures than my success”, he says, adding, “When you are from a poor family, you are driven to do something great in life. I have been performing my life story on stage for so many years, that I noticed there are so many minute intricacies that need to be told.”

Kher adds that “even today”, he gets butterflies in his stomach while talking about theatre. “I still feel like throwing up, there is this anxiety that pops up. But it feels good. After all these years, theatre still gives me joy. I have no qualms in admitting that I am what I am because of theatre,” says the Special 26 (2013) actor.

Kher reminiscences, “My grandfather used to say, ‘if you are telling the truth, then you don’t have to remember it’.”

But it is not easy for an actor to always speak the truth. Kher credits the inheritance of his virtue to his family. “It comes from the fact that I gained a lot of emotional strength because I lived in a joint family. Even though we were poor, I was emotionally secure,” he says.