00:03Veteran actor Anupam Kher is known for his powerful performances and his active presence
00:10on social media. The actor recently opened up about a feeling that continues to stay with him
00:18even after decades in the film industry, the nervousness he experiences before stepping
00:25onto a theatre stage. Anupam revealed that despite spending 41 years in films, facing the camera
00:33thousands of times and performing for audiences across the world, he still feels that familiar
00:41senses of fear and anticipation before every live theatre performance. Reflecting on the experience,
00:50the actor wrote, The lonely walk to the stage, perhaps the loneliest journey for a theatre actor
00:58is the short walk from backstage onto the stage. In those few steps, you are completely alone,
01:07with your thoughts, your doubts, your nervousness and the sound of your own heartbeat. There is
01:14fear. What if I forget? What if I fail to connect? What if tonight is not the night? You try
01:23to focus,
01:23take a deep breath and quietly remind yourself to surrender to the moment.
01:29I have been in movies for 41 years. I have recently started work on my 555th film. I have faced
01:40the
01:40camera thousands of times and performed before audiences across the world. And yet, before every
01:48entry onto a theatre stage, the palpitation is still there. That little fear still walks beside me.
01:58Perhaps that is a blessing. The day an actor stops feeling nervous may be the day he begins taking his
02:06audiences and his art for granted. Fear keeps you humble. It reminds you that no matter how many years
02:15you have performed, every new audience is a new beginning. And then you step onto the stage,
02:22the lights find you, the audience breathes with you, and slowly the fear turns onto focus,
02:29the nervousness into energy, and the loneliness into an extraordinary sheer joy.
02:37For the unversed, Anupam Kher is currently taking his play,
02:42JANE PEHCHANE ANJANE to audiences across the United States and Canada.
