Actor Sikandar Kher considers his father, veteran actor Anupam Kher, more of a friend than a parental figure. “My parents (actors Anupam and Kirron Kher) have always been there for me. My rapport with my father is more like that of friends. He is very positive and motivating,” the Aarya actor tells us.

The wisdom he receives from his father is invaluable to him. Calling Anupam an “institution in himself” as the actor completes 40 years in the industry, Sikandar adds, “He was an actor before he became my father. And for me, he will always be an actor first.”

Ask what inspires him the most about his father, and Sikandar says it is his courage and unconventional choices: “He was ahead of his time in many ways. At times, some of the roles he picked were characters that actors his age would have refrained from playing on screen... He has been witness to how the acting landscape has changed over the years.”

While the 40-year-old knows that his parents are always there for him, he avoids discussing work with them unless everything is finalised. “My father is not detached from my career, but my work is my work. I don’t discuss it with my parents until I have signed a project and started shooting for it, because things don’t always materialize. I always feel that they won’t take it well. They will feel low if that happens. So jab tak set pe nahin jata, I don’t tell anyone. That’s how the industry functions,” he says.

Sikandar, who made his debut in Woodstock Villa (2008), has been through many highs and lows professionally. After nearly 14 years in showbiz, he abides by a simple philosophy — which was also taught to him by his father. “The biggest and only advice I have got from him is, kaam karte raho, kaam se kaam milta hai. I truly believe in that,” he says, adding that the tough times taught him how “nothing is permanent”: “So, keep your head down, don’t lose hope and just keep at it. You have to keep reinventing yourself. That’s the truth and reality of life.”