Anupam Kher, 69, plays a 69-year-old driven senior citizen in, well, Vijay 69. Streaming on Netflix, the film directed by Akshay Roy touches upon themes of grit, resilience and a never-say-die spirit, embodied by Kher’s character. t2 chatted with the veteran actor on being Vijay Mathew and sharing a common philosophy.

Vijay Mathew seems so much like you and his journey in Vijay 69 reflects many of your beliefs in life. Was that a major reason to sign on?

Yes. Vijay Mathew’s desire to not get slotted into the ‘old man’ category and wanting to explore possibilities is something I am familiar with. He doesn’t have the fear of failure; he wants to try and fail, not try to fail. Anupam Kher also does not have the fear of failure.

A difference is that Vijay Mathew is not successful, while I would like to believe that I fall into the bracket of successful people. Vijay uses abusive language, something which I don’t.

He has an angst against the system and against stereotypes, which I also have. I have always been against stereotypes. My first film, Saaransh, had me play a 65-year-old man when I was only 28. After that, I refused to allow anyone to typecast me.

But Vijay Mathew is dependent on others to make his dreams come true. Anupam Kher is not dependent on others... he is dependent on his own thinking. Since I think differently, I am ready to take chances.

Does this film align with your philosophy of ‘Kuch bhi ho sakta hain?’

Absolutely! The film says that dreams don’t have an expiry date. If you dream, if you aspire for something and you are willing to work for it, kuch bhi ho sakta hain. The best thing about Vijay 69 is that it is an inspiring tale for all age groups. I think everyone will relate to the film. A feel-good film in these times is an achievement in itself.

I came from a small town where there was too much time to dream. And dreams keep changing, like goalposts keep changing. For me, a bend in the road is not the end of the road. Because when you see ahead of the end, you will realise that there is a beautiful valley to explore.

Like Vijay, all of us are running our own private triathlons. Some people stop it and then don’t take part in the rest of it, but some people carry on.

You have recently said that in the list of 550-plus films you have done so far, Vijay 69 will feature in the Top 5. With the vast and diverse filmography that you have, what made you say so?

I would like to believe that you have watched at least 50 films of mine. Wouldn’t you say Vijay 69 should be in the Top 5?

If not in the Top 5, then definitely in your Top 10...

I said that because it seems like an effortless performance, but effortlessness actually requires a lot of effort. I believe it is one of my top five films because before I did it, I didn’t know how to swim. I learnt swimming for the first time in my life last year, when I was 68. I may look very fit but in a shoot, there are constant retakes. ‘Sir, one more, sir. Can we do a swimming shot once more? Can you get onto the cycle and go up the hill again?’ So I had to do a lot of the physical stuff over and over again and it was very exhausting. When I watched the film, I got teary-eyed because I felt I was Vijay Mathew, I didn’t feel like I was Anupam Kher.

You can say that I have had films like Saaransh, Khosla Ka Ghosla, Special 26, Ram Lakhan, Bend it like Beckham, Silver Linings Playbook and many more. But Vijay 69 came to me at a time in my career when I needed to challenge myself the most. I needed to fight my hydrophobia. When a film challenges me physically and mentally in equal measure, that becomes my yardstick to place it in the list of my top five films.

I played a man in Saaransh who had to deal with the death of his young son. I was not married then and I had no children. I had no idea what it really felt like... I had to depend on my observational powers and my emotional imagination. With Vijay Mathew, I had my own feelings, experiences and emotions to tap into.

You also injured yourself while doing this film...

I broke my shoulder. It got completely dislocated in a shot. It was terrible! The amazing thing was that I carried on with the shoot. We were shooting the whole night outside the Taj hotel (in Mumbai) and the permission of the location was given for that time only. Money was involved. My director said: ‘I think you should call it a day because your shoulder is broken and it is out of your socket.’ I said I could shoot for another hour, and I did that. When you challenge yourself, it is beautiful. What goes wrong in your life, later on become the stories of your life. I am an eternal optimist.

What does it take to be the optimist that you are?

I come from a poor family. Around 14 of us — grandparents, parents, children — stayed in a small room. But we were all very happy. We used to be happy with the life we had, with the food we ate.

The only way I know how to live life is to be optimistic. Things will go wrong. There is nobody in the world who has not seen bad times. Even the richest people go through bad times. My autobiography, Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly, is about what went wrong in my life but that I never gave up.

Is there anything that Anupam Kher wants to learn anew or master at age 69?

Now that I have done a triathlon in a film, I want to try one in real life. I don’t know when, but I will.

Besides Vijay 69, is there any other film that has challenged you as much physically?

I don’t think any other role has challenged me as much physically. Emotionally, it would be my recent film Signature. It came out a month ago. When sadness hits your bones, that is equally challenging. What challenges you emotionally, also becomes a physical challenge. You have to explore your own emotional depth to be like that character.

Now when I think of it, Uunchai was very challenging physically. We went very close to the Everest Base Camp. That was tough but also fun.

Coming back to Vijay Mathew, is there a trait in him that you wish you had?

He has an aggressive kind of anger which I don’t have. I have a righteous anger in me, but I don’t have pure anger like Vijay. That is why, as an actor, you will rarely see me projecting pure anger.

And did you enjoy using all those colourful swear words in the film?

I loved it! That is how actors get to do things that they can’t or don’t do in real life. I am not saying that I don’t do it at all. I definitely do when I am talking to my friend Anil Kapoor or when I would speak to Satish Kaushik. But otherwise, I don’t. In this film, I had the liberty to abuse. I owned it and did it with great pleasure!