"It almost feels like coming home," says Anant Mahadevan about his latest play, "Mujhe Rang De", which recently premiered in Mumbai.

For Anant, the stage is a second home.

"I've been actively involved with the stage for 25 years. In fact, 'Mujhe Rang De' is my 31st stage appearance as an actor. I still remember my first stage performance as Hamlet, no less. 'Mujhe Rang De' feels right for my silver-jubilee year because it's a truly heart warming take on life and relationships."

'Mujhe Rang De', featuring Divya Dutta and Ayesha Jhulka, is a zany satire on an extra-marital affair. The main character is a repressed wife (Divya) who discovers new facets to her personality through her association with an interior decorator, played by Anant.

"The best thing about my character is that he's actually an actor. But people mistake him for an interior designer, just like me donning several caps at the same time - TV, stage, film actor, director, writer..."

Anant has also almost completed directing his third feature film "Aksar" with Emran Hashmi in the lead, and is planning to start another film in December with the suddenly sought after Sammir Dattani in the lead.

"But right now I leave for Chandigarh for a staging of 'Mujhe Rang De' with Divya and Ayesha Jhulka," told Anant.

Incidentally, Ayesha and Anant conceptualised the play, which was given a final shape by Sanjay Shah. Ayesha has been on stage on two occasions earlier. "Purush" was her full-fledged theatre debut followed by the ballet "Prakriti" three years ago.

Says Divya: "Anant and Ayesha have done theatre. But I had never done a play ... not since college. And it's such a liberating experience. I recommend it to every film actor."

"Jayaji (Bachchan), who actually spearheaded this movement of film actresses to stage, called to wish me all the best for my stage debut. And I felt 10 ft tall," adds Divya, who's been vacillating between films ("Veer-Zaara", "Silsilay") and television ("Shanno Ki Shaadi", "Kadam") for some years now.

Anant is thankful that there is a vibrant and throbbing theatre culture in Mumbai. "Not just English or Hindi, but Marathi and Gujarati plays are doing so well in Mumbai. In no other city can we hope to see theatre treated with such astonishing and prolific respect."