There are major differences between the real life and the reel roles, though. At 45, age is on his side, and he has enough drive to create opportunities for himself. Says Kher, ``When you reach the 40s, you know whether you like yourself or not. And I like myself.'' He explains, ``I'm not being narcissistic. I belong to a lower middle class family and I have stuck to my roots. Success has not changed me as a human being. There are so many things that I have discovered I want to do. It takes time for you to introspect after the initial euphoria over your success is over.''

Sitting comfortably with eight Filmfare awards for his performances in Saaransh, Darr, Khel, Ram Lakhan, Daddy, Lamhe and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Kher is now getting selective about the roles he takes up in his second innings. He is also being very particular about not revisiting his youth and dancing around bushes with heroines young enough to be his daughters. At the same time, he is adding to his film oeuvre by performing many off-the-screen roles. He already has a fledgeling television software production company, and now he's getting into film production.

His first production, a Bengali film, Bariwali, won accolades recently. He has also joined hands with Anil Kapoor and Satish Kaushik to form a film production company. He will be directing its first venture, called Aatma. ``It's a love story with a soul,'' says he, concealing more than he reveals about the film. As a logical extension of his film career, he also plans to set up an acting academy in Mumbai.

But theatre-from which he has derived both his wife and his grounding-continues to be Kher's passion. While he and wife Kiron continue staging Feroz Khan's Salgirah, he is also working on a single character play. He plans to take the play around the world to raise funds for a charity dedicated to children, which he plans to set up soon. He has already bought a plot of land near Mumbai for the purpose.

``I can contribute a lot individually to society,'' he says. This is not his first brush with philanthropy. He has already had a long affair with a nonprofit called Dilkhush, where he spent time with mentally challenged children every Wednesday for many years.

Kher may have enacted all sorts of roles, from comic sidekick to loving father to dreaded don, but the new role he is charting for himself promises to be the mother of all roles.