He has been under the arclights for more than four decades, but Anupam Kher’s acting has not aged. As the 71-year-old returns to the Delhi stage with his latest production Jaane Pehchaane Anjaane, the actor says the secret is that he has not aged mentally. “It is only when you get old mentally that everything rusts. I don’t take myself seriously; if you do, you will be bogged down by your own greatness. I enjoy the journey. I enjoy the moment. My competition has always been with myself. I believe human endurance can make people achieve great things. I don’t fear failure. I keep trying....”

Drawn towards director Gajendra Ahire after watching one of his Marathi productions, Kher says he decided to add a musical layer by roping in Anu Malik for “popular appeal”. Then he reached out to the “spontaneous” Swaroop Sampat to tell the engaging story of a widow and a widower. “It is not that I was waiting to work with her, in theatre it doesn’t work like that, I thought she was a perfect fit for the role, and she took no time to come on board.” Kher says the play explores loneliness in modern relationships and fractures in human connection across three generations in a middle-class setting. “We often take retired people for granted and social media profiles as real. The play says you don’t need a mirror to show who you are; you already know your inner architecture. It makes you look within.”

On how he brings his credo to life in tangible characters, Kher says he is a “people-oriented person”. “I might see a character trait in you, and it stays in my mind. My wealth lies in the number of people I know rather than in the number of cars or houses I own. In the acting profession, it helps. Your repertoire depends on how many people you know and understand.”

In his storied career, Kher has attempted two sides of the same thought. One is reminded of his association with Mahatma Gandhi in two divergent forms: Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, a film that he produced, and the recent The Bengal Files. “I stick to the script, but Maine Gandhi...was one of those films where I had to research because I was playing a person suffering from Alzheimer’s syndrome who was living with the guilt of killing Gandhi. People who suffer from Alzheimer’s have vacant eyes. I had to work a lot on myself to bring that expression.”

With The Bengal Files, Kher says, he followed Vivek Agnihotri’s research but had to internalise the physical attributes of Gandhi. The performance was dissected for presenting a version of Gandhi who seemed unsure of what he was advocating. “Whatever Gandhi said in the film was authentic, and we felt that he was unsure because the situation (communal riots during Partition) was such,” Kher says he is not sure whether the portrayal was right or wrong, for unlike theatre where once the performance begins, the actor is the king, in cinema, it is the director who is the master and editing and background sound also play a role in the final expression.

Reflecting on his association with Delhi, the alumnus of the National School of Drama says the three years he spent at the drama school were the richest moments of his life. “I felt rich without money. It opened the world of theatre and cinema for me, where I could understand the magic of Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier, Mohan Rakesh, Dharamvir Bharti, Manohar Singh, and Uttara Baokar.”

But one could argue that, when he returned to his first love, he chose its materialistic side. “Materialistic is not the right word. I do theatre for passion. I don’t have to do it. Many cinema actors don’t return. My point is that the theatre must earn money. It can no longer be for hungry people. Even when it was for hungry people, its proponents wanted to make money. I don’t think people who earn money from theatre should feel guilty about it. When people come to watch Anupam Kher, they have an image of an actor who has done 550 feature films. But the Delhi audience is so sharp that they don’t care for reputation if the performance doesn’t hold after five to 10 minutes,” laughs Kher, adding, they get to watch a variety of plays, and that’s why he is anxious about the capital’s response.

Given his strong political views, he could voice them through theatre. “I appreciate it, but I don’t like to do political theatre. For me, theatre is a tool for emotional engagement where I can bring out human weaknesses and human strengths.” No doubt, from Saransh and  Khosla Ka Ghosla, whose sequel he is excited about, to Tanvi The Great, Kher’s performance can tear you up, regardless of the film’s quality. “I guess it has to do with my lower-middle-class family background. I would love to stage Shakespeare, but I don’t identify with it. I want the audience to identify with my emotions, and that’s what I am trying to achieve with Jaane Pehchaane Anjaane.”

Jaane Pehchaane Anjane will be staged at Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, on May 22, 23 and 24 at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets are available on Bookmyshow.com and priced ₹2,299 onwards