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Veteran actor Anupam Kher has opened up about the stage fright he continues to experience before live theatre performances, saying the nervousness remains even after 41 years in the film industry.

The 71-year-old actor reflected on the experience in a social media post, describing the short walk from backstage to the stage as one of the loneliest moments for a theatre actor.

Kher said those few steps are often filled with thoughts, self-doubt and anxiety, accompanied by the sound of one’s own heartbeat.

“There is fear: What if I forget? What if I fail to connect? What if tonight is not the night?” he wrote, adding that an actor tries to focus, take a deep breath and surrender to the moment.

Despite having faced the camera thousands of times and performed before audiences around the world, Kher said the anticipation has not disappeared.

“I have been in movies for 41 years. I have recently started work on my 555th film. I have faced the camera thousands of times and performed before audiences across the world. And yet, before every entry onto a theatre stage, that palpitation is still there. That little fear still walks beside me,” he said.

Kher believes that nervousness can actually be beneficial for an actor as it prevents complacency.

“Perhaps that is a blessing. The day an actor stops feeling nervous may be the day he begins taking his audience and his art for granted,” he wrote, adding that fear keeps an actor humble and reminds them that every audience represents a new beginning.

He said the anxiety gradually transforms once the performance begins, with fear turning into focus, nervousness into energy and solitude into the shared experience of theatre.

Kher was reflecting on his performance in the play Jaane Pehchaane Anjaane in Dallas, which he is currently taking to audiences across the US and Canada. Written and directed by Gajendra Ahire, the play explores loneliness, companionship and the emotional distance that can exist in modern relationships.