As we catch up with Husain, who is playing Esha Deol’s father in LOC, he begins to talk about his youth, when he was full of enthusiasm about accomplishing something unique and interesting. And although he had never quite mapped out his life, it has left him fulfilled and free to do the one thing he always wanted to do — act. "It seems only yesterday when as an MA in history I began my life as a curator of the museum in Lucknow. My knowledge of Persian came in handy. I worked there for four years."

Husain became the first curator in India to display antiquities outside the museum, experimenting with a fresh aspect of tourism. Not only was Husain the first man to bring the concept of travelling exhibitions to India, he also organised educational tours for schoolchildren to various sites of historical importance. "All this now seems like history. I always had these phases when I could put in my best for the promotion of a cause. Once I ceased to have enough inspiration, I chose to move on," said Husain, who found himself working in Habib Tanvir’s theatrical production Agra Bazar soon after. The decision to take to theatre was not a tough one because Husain had always been fascinated with acting more than anything else in the world. He worked in productions like Neem ka ped and Dr Rahi Masoom Raza’s Andha Gaon. After struggling in theatre for a while, he moved towards tourism, a passion that he feels strongly about till date.

"Nothing concrete was happening on the Indian tourism scene. It was then that I decided to do something novel, for which I was later awarded by the government," he said. In 1983, about 500 people of Indian origin, who had been sent as sugarcane plantation workers to Britain in 1845, touched their native soil again. For the first time in the history of Indian tourism such an enormous effort was being made. Husain became a virtual celebrity and was awarded again and again for his creative approach towards international tourism. "The journey did not end there," says Husain, whose commitment to environment also demanded attention.

That was when Nature Quest came up. Stretched across 50 acres on the Musoorie-Thanagaon road, "Nature Quest is a world unto itself. In 50 acres, we celebrate environment. We have environment-friendly huts, projects for integrated medicine, a school which teaches the exact status of earth’s environment, a herbarium and a provision for growing everything organically," says the environmentalist-cum-actor.

Acting, however, continues to remain his foremost passion. "I always found films more challenging than theatre. Theatre was easier because of its directness as a medium. But when you are shooting for a serial or a film, you have to create an emotion. Often you are crying or laughing in front of the camera. It’s very difficult," says Husain, who entered films when he was 52 years of age.

Today he has 15 significant projects in hand, from Vidhu Vinod’s Munna Bhai MBBS and Nitin Manmohan’s Nai Padosan to Akbar Khan’s Taj Mahal and Dutta’s LOC. Satisfied with his life, Husain says, "I am happy that I did not come to films to make a career. I came here after completing it. Now that I have done whatever I wanted to, I can test my skills at histrionics. That is what I have been yearning to do ever since I saw Balraj Sahni act."