The trade magazine and all was banned in my house. The first time I read a film magazine was when I was 18.
I still feel that in India we look upon sports as a recreational activity - which it is - but people have to understand that there is a career in sports. It's not just necessary to be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer, as most of us Indians appear to think that our children should grow up to be.
When I was in school, sport was given utmost importance. I think it's fantastic for character building, for team playing, and I think it's a great profile for a nation. One in every six people on Earth is an Indian, and I look forward to the day when we can compete with the heavyweights of the sporting world and do well in the medal tally.
I really believe at the end of the day, regardless of how noble you are or how patriotic the film might be, it has to serve as entertainment in order for your audiences to come into the theatre and watch it. Otherwise, audiences will wait and see it a few months later when it is premiered on television.
The main objective of our cinema is to entertain. If you can pass on a message at the same time, that is fantastic, but if the audience does not feel they are going to be entertained by the film, they are not going to watch it. There are many examples of very responsible and great films that are being made, but nobody goes to watch them.
If people are looking forward to my films, then I am happy, and I must be doing something right.
I am happy with all the films I've done. I have not become the victim of an image. I have managed to do different roles, and I am proud of that.
If I give five flops, I won't get a job. You have to perform at the box office when you are at the top. No one is running a charity here. People are putting huge amounts of money to make movies, and they want the films to be successful. They have invested money in you, so it is your duty to make sure the film does well.
A successful film is a good film, and a non-successful film is a bad film. It's as simple as that.
You have to understand that you are not making the film for yourself; you're making it for the audience. If I am asking my audiences to buy tickets, I owe them the worth of their money, and I owe them entertainment.
Anybody who has interacted with me will definitely find me to be a chirpy person.
I am not one of those people who will ever be comfortable mocking or making caricatures of the stereotypes attached to any community.
Every film for every actor is a make-or-break film. I believe every film has the power to break you or make you. So, an actor will treat every film like his last film. That's the way we need to work, and that's the way you can drum up that passion needed to do good work.
Critics have a job to do. They do not criticise you without reason.
I feel that one of the hardest things in acting is the way you need to switch your emotions.
Movie-making is serious business. The director and the crew are already under a lot of pressure to give their best to the audience. Therefore, the best part for me as an actor is to act well in the movies and make a jolly atmosphere with the co-stars on the sets.
Just because I don't show six-pack abs doesn't mean that I don't have them.
I'm an actor, paid to act. I don't bring personal problems to the sets. Dad taught me that.
Every actor has his own identity. I don't aspire to be Bond. My quest is to do something new, something different.
I do films that I like. I have done comedy, romance, everything, and I always like to do it differently from the previous ones.
