Anupam Kher was in Calcutta over the weekend for a performance of his globally popular solo play Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai. A day before the show, the veteran actor spoke to t2 about coming back to the city stage, his philosophy of ‘kuch bhi ho sakta hai’ and what makes him an eternal optimist.

This will be your first performance of Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai in Calcutta after 15 years. Why the long gap?

I have done a lot of shows in Calcutta. This is one city where I must have done at least 20 presentations of this play. And then, I started touring the world with it. The thing with Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai is that those who have seen it — whether it’s the audience in Calcutta or in any other part of the world — have seen it at least two-three times. I have done about 400 shows of this play by now, but I get nervous every time.

What is the audience in Calcutta like? Is it different from those in other parts of the country?

The Calcutta audience is phenomenal. They are very good at sharing their love and showering their love. The play is about me and my failures and the fact that I am laughing at my failures. And that makes even more of an impact because the perception about me is that I am a successful person. So it’s not just a play for me, but a philosophy. I believe that it’s okay if things don’t work out in a person’s life for some time... ultimately, they will work out.

It’s a great evening that packs in humour. I laugh at everything that went wrong in my life. The audience finds it fascinating that the whole story of my life is depicted in a very funny manner. Whether it’s my first play, my first love, my first kiss, my first audition... they all went wrong. So the audience feels that if things can go so wrong in his life and yet he is counted as a successful person today, then that is a lesson that they go home with. They have seen me in movies and on stage, they see me as a vulnerable person. That’s what touches their hearts. Luckily, Calcutta likes me as a person and as an actor. I try not to disappoint them.

And you still get nervous after 400-odd shows?

That’s because there is no retake on stage. It’s a live audience, I am alone on stage, and there is no one else to share my words and fears. It’s just a sort of nervous energy on stage that keeps me going. Also, my competition is my own self. I want to put in my best.

I don’t just perform because I have to perform. I don’t need to do that... I could have shut the play a long time back. But I feel that Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai is one of the best things that I have done. Whenever I feel a little rusted as an actor, I say: ‘Okay, let’s put up a show of the play and let’s see whether I fail or not.’ And because I put myself to the test, I get an adrenaline rush, which some may describe as nervous energy.

It’s my life but people see glimpses of their lives in it. The play is about hope, rejection, acceptance and yet not giving up, and these are things everyone goes through in their lives.

And does nervousness extend to the first day of a film as well?

No, not every film. Actually, most people tend to forget that I started this play when I was 20 years younger than I am today. It’s not about standing and enacting in one place... I run all over the stage. It’s like running a marathon and not leaving it halfway, but completing it. I never give up halfway. You have to keep going, that’s what I believe. There is a very beautiful saying: ‘Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.’

Nothing gives me a greater boost than finishing every show of Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai because it’s very strenuous. Honestly, before this show in Calcutta, I did this show of the play eight months ago. The last show I did was in America. I haven’t been as regular with the play because the pandemic happened in between. Calcutta has been my second public performance of the play after the pandemic.

Have you always been able to laugh at your failures?

I have always relied on my ability to laugh at myself to keep going. (Charlie) Chaplin did that. I am not, of course, comparing myself to Chaplin. What people think is your shortcoming, if you can turn it around and make it your strength and laugh about it, there is no bigger strength than that.

I think that ability was always there within me, but over time, I have become more comfortable doing that freely. Many years ago, it may have been more cultivated and conscious on my end, but now I do it organically.

And I anyway feel that self-deprecating humour is the best form of humour. I always see life with a sense of humour and I think that people who take everything in life very seriously, are the funniest people in the world. People who are unnecessarily serious most likely don’t like themselves... they want to be someone else. I have no such problems... I like myself.

Most people would perhaps be able to laugh in retrospect, but not in that moment....

I think I survived because I laughed at myself at that moment. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have. Of course, I am human and I have felt sad and disappointed. But I have always told myself: ‘Kuch bhi ho sakta hai.’ The director of the play, Feroz Abbas Khan, thought it wasn’t the best title. I told him it is the best because this is the philosophy of my life.

When I landed in the city of Mumbai on June 3, 1981, I never thought that I would be sitting in 2023 and saying that I have just signed my 540th film!

Have you never felt the need to step back for a while and recharge your batteries?

I am my own charger! My batteries are always charged anyway. Of course, I also get my energy by talking to some people. I am an eternal optimist. I always see the better side of life.

I never look back. For me, 540 films is just a number. I think I have just begun. As an actor, I am much more relaxed now. I am not looking to prove myself to anyone. At the end of the day, once you put in the number of years in a job like I have, you end up doing similar things. I now try and make my job difficult. How you make your job difficult makes you excel. I feel competence is the biggest enemy of brilliance... when you are competent, you can rarely be brilliant. I have stopped being competent... I start from scratch.

Is there anything left for Anupam Kher to do?

Ask me that in 25 years! (Laughs) I count myself lucky that I have at least 50-60 movies of mine which are remarkable. Whatever I have wanted to do so far I have manifested it and God has been kind enough to make it happen.