Swaroop Sampat begins the interview by clarifying that she started her career at 17 and, despite being away from active acting for some time, she remained deeply connected to theatre. Reflecting on her journey, the actor — best known for the sitcom Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi — speaks about her early years in the industry and explains why she decided to return to the stage with Jaane Pehchaane Anjane with Anupam Kher.
Admitting that until eight months ago she believed she would never return to the stage as an actor, Sampat, who is married to actor Paresh Rawal, says the play has given her one of the best roles of her career, something she felt films were no longer offering her. Edited excerpts from the interview conducted via voice note:
Swaroop Sampat: Actually, I started my journey at 17. The first thing I did was not being an actress, but I designed the costumes for a Burjor Patel production. And around that time, I met Paresh (Rawal) and Shafi (Inamdar), because of whom I started acting. It was then that I did three plays at once: Kasturi Mrig, the Gujarati version of Equus called Tokhar, and a one-act play called The Lesson.
But still, when you ask me what about the stage really interests me, I don’t know. I think everything about my life has been about theatre — and not just the stage, but the whole package, because my dad was the chief producer of the Indian National Theatre, Mr Bachu Sampat.
For me, the most exciting thing was going to rehearsals with him, which I was allowed to attend on Friday and Saturday evenings. On Sunday, after brunch, we would go to the theatre to check the day’s bookings. Dad would sit at the counter, with the chart in front of him, handling the VIP guests’ allocations.
I also used to go to the shows, more often after I finished school, after which Mom, Dad, and I, along with actors like Praveen Joshi and Sarita Joshi, would go out. Earlier, I would see Dad handling the publicity materials, and now there is Paresh, and my kids absolutely love theatre. There is never a moment when I’m away from the theatre and the stage, and all of us share a great love for the theatre.
Swaroop Sampat: One of the most interesting things about this play, you may say I’m being very biased, is Mr Anupam Kher. You know, I’d gone to see his play, and after seeing it, the first thing I told him was, ‘Anupam, the audience is eating out of your hands. I think it’s fantastic.’ He is such a great actor and a lovely person.
You see, now at 67, I’m not interested in struggling for theatre or any film. I have to get the best and work with the kindest, nicest people. And I think Anupam definitely fits the slot.
Swaroop Sampat: My role is very interesting. It may not be the longest, but it is the best one in the play because this character goes through so many ups and downs in life. I’m at a stage in life where I don’t really need to prove myself as an actress. I don’t want to be stressed all week leading up to the show. I need to be having fun doing theatre and films. So if it’s a small role, I really don’t care. If it’s a fun role, if it’s something that interests me — I want to do. I want to enjoy my love for theatre. And that this role just fits in. It’s got everything: serious, comedy, dark.
Swaroop Sampat: Performing in front of the audience was not tough at all, despite the fact that the last time I rehearsed was about 25 years ago, and the last show was about 22 years ago. But since then, I have been doing a lot of work in theatre because I teach through drama. So I was never really away from the theatre. But yes, about acting. Now, you see, as a researcher, I’ve presented so many papers on stage, and all of it is live, where you are speaking for a continuous 1 hour. And that’s tougher than acting, believe me.
I have some pre-performance rituals that I’ve always done, which many ‘woke’ people may think are weird. I do ‘pranam’ to the stage, tell God to protect me and let me do the best. There’s also a prayer — the Angikam Bhuvanam Yasya – I always say as a believer. And I’m a Sanatan.
Earlier, when I performed The Nuts, I had a horrible pre-performance ritual that started about half an hour before the play. Sometimes, because I had two shows and so many soliloquies, I used to eat a raw egg so the egg white would coat my throat and keep it from scratching. But luckily, I don’t have to do this now.
Then there’s makeup, which you need to get done much before going onstage. But you know, I haven’t worn theatrical makeup in such a long time. And about 7-8 months ago, I gave away all my theatrical makeup, thinking I’d never work on stage again. And then Anupam calls me and says, ‘Swaroop, I want you to do this play.’
Swaroop Sampat: I do the most fantastic form of exercise: Pilates, which I have been doing for the last 16 years. I also go swimming and walk in the park. Before Pilates, I used to do . I think I’ve been working out since I was about 30. But before that, of course, you know, there were the Jane Fonda cassettes, which I used to use. So you can see how it’s evolved. It’s just become classier and more refined. Because Pilates is something I know I can go on doing till my dying day.
Swaroop Sampat: So, in my house, because we cook all different cuisines, the kitchen used to go into a state of havoc. So I made this rule that lunch is always Gujarati or Marathi-style food. You know, a West-side dish: roti, sabzi, dal, and chawal because I’m a Mumbaiker, but a Gujarati. And because of the states we come from, we’ve been millet eaters: jowar bhakri, nachini, and bajra only in winter, and also little millet on Ekadashi (which I have been following for 38 years).
I’m not much of a breakfast eater because I go to the gym at nine. It’s very difficult to eat breakfast and go. But I have been put on proteins, so I have a shake after my workout. In the evening, I’m the only one in the house who eats really early: around 6.30-6.45 pm. But it can be anything. It could be soup, salad, and chicken, or something continental, not so much Chinese. The boys love it, but I don’t care for it so much. Noodles, for me, are prepared more in a European or Indian style. But overall, there are no strict dos and don’ts in my eating.
Of course, now I’ve stopped having a lot of sugar, which I could when I was younger and more active. I could eat the whole brick of ice cream, feel no guilt about it, and still be as thin. But now no more, sadly. So I’ve had to give up sugar. I have to give up desserts.
I have this very funny story about giving up sugar during the shooting of my first film, Sawaal, because I used to sit with this great actress, Waheeda Rehman, whom I absolutely adored. She used to have tea without sugar, and I, a 19-20-year-old, had mine with sugar. Our tea would get mixed up, and it’d be really disruptive. So I said, ‘OK, Waheeda ji, for you I’ll give up sugar’, and then we’d get both our teas without sugar, so nobody would be disrupted. And yeah, so I gave up having tea and coffee with sugar when I was about 20. It’s only desserts that I have to give up now, and I’m very sad about it.
Swaroop Sampat: You see, in my time, each of us looked so beautiful, individual, and unique. There was Reita Faria Powell, and then even Sangeeta Bijlani, who was Miss India after me; each looked so different. Now, the sad thing is that they all look the same, and I am not shying away from saying that. Now too much is being done.
Too much training, too much slimming, too much treatment, and too much going for perfection. But in the perfection, they just look like clones. You know, all of them look so similar. That, I think, is very boring.
I don’t think I would have wanted to be a Miss India in this day and age.
Swaroop Sampat: It’s such an unfair question. How can I choose? OK, I could put the TV on the side and just choose between the theatre and films. But that is still very difficult because you perform differently for both mediums, and I wouldn’t want to change it.
The only thing in theatre is that you get better roles, better stories, ones that align with your sensibilities, and a lot of fun, doing rehearsals and tours. Also, in theatre, there is a oneness. I actually called up the cast, Anupamji, Meghna Malik and others, and said, ‘Hey, I am missing you, yaar. Haven’t seen you for 15 days.’ Which would not have happened in films, where there is a kind of distance between co-stars. But work-wise, I would not like to choose.
Swaroop Sampat: Finding a companion, and I’m a great believer in friendship. In the play, there are some very sweet things about my and Anupam’s characters. Even in real life, I have the most wonderful friends, whom I regularly meet and depend on – we are more like sisters. Yeah, so I think that is what resonates most with me. Also, it is a role I deserved, which I was not getting in films.
Swaroop Sampat: What dinner table? That’s too late in the day. Mornings start with that. Just three days back, Anirudh gave Paresh a play to read, asking him not to read it today but to “sleep over it.” He says, “Don’t read it continuously all the time. Just give it a break and then think about it.” So, yes, it’s about plays that we are doing, plays that other people are doing, our performances, not only on stage, but in films and web series.
So when I was thinking about whether to do this play or not, they put a whole lot of questions in front of me and said, “Mom, what about your education work? Will you be able to do this? Will they be able to give you the best treatment? Will you be taken care of? And Paresh is like, maybe you should not do the play… because he’s just worried about me. Anirudh is like, think about it, while Aditya goes, whatever happens, you have to do the play. Since we’re all in the same field, it’s really interesting. And luckily, all of our choices are nearly the same.
Swaroop Sampat: It was doing The Nuts that was very, very difficult because it had so many soliloquies, and I had so much to do in the play. It took so much out of me. Also, when I did Uri, Aditya Dhar had asked me to see a whole lot of these videos of people with Alzheimer’s. But I don’t think I have done too many roles like this.
Swaroop Sampat: This is very interesting. But it depends on you, right? My kids were young when I was doing All the Best. Paresh was extremely busy at the time, doing three shifts in a day. So I didn’t want to leave my kids alone, so I used to do the seven-to-two shift. And I would leave from the shooting by 2 pm, be home by about 3-3.15, and they would be back by 3.30. I was at home with them every day. That’s what I did. I think they got it much easier now with all the vans they use to take the kids, and they have all their maids, nurses, and God knows what paraphernalia along with them.
We never had that. Not that I would have wanted it either. But who am I to comment on other people’s wishes? I know that I was home every day for them. I read to them every day. I did not even go out partying. I remember once going to a film party. And they said ‘you know, Swaroop, you should do things for yourself, too, you know, meet up at night’. But that’s not what I wanted.
The musical comedy will premiere in at Kamani Auditorium with running shows from 22nd to 24th May 2026.
