The Anupam files

ANUPAM KHER SPEAKS HIS HEART OUT TO JITESH PILLAAI IN AN INTERVIEW WHICH FEELS LIKE A THERAPY SESSION

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Anupam Kher is a font of anecdotes. Even when you've heard them before, you like hearing them again. He's a great storyteller and will remake the moment for you, voices and all. Interviewing him becomes more of a story session and less of an interview. You can talk to him the whole day and not get bored. He's unlike any other actor I've met. He's so funny and so serious at the same time that you feel you're talking to two people at once. And his take on life, on relationships is so real that he can actually become a therapist. Besides being an actor, he's a motivational speaker, an acting teacher, a director and an entrepreneur as well. Despite his 500 plus films, he still has the habit of surprising you. Excerpts from an engaging interview with the veteran who remains a child at heart.

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR 20-YEAR-OLD YOUNGER SELF TODAY?

Dream. Continue to dream. And don't worry about the obstacles. Don't worry about the failures. Because that's what my father taught me that failure is an event, never a person. And I will also not tell him, don't worry if you go bald. Because that will become your trademark. And then so many people will want to be like you.

HAVE YOU MANAGED TO RETAIN SOME OF YOUR FATHER'S SIMPLICITY?