I work at my own pace, and I work really well when I am not running around.
I have made a career of flop films. And yet, 90 percent of my films are celebrated.
When you have a child, you have to have a hawk eye. You have to be with the child all the time.
I don't take anything for granted from any director. I am just a slave of my director.
People who have been watching my performances, my films, have been a big support. If they are proud of my filmography and work, I am proud of what I have done.
If you are working in the Hindi film industry, you cannot escape playing a police guy more than three times.
My lowest point came when I shifted to Mumbai in 1993. Nothing was happening. This is right after I did 'Bandit Queen.' I had no way to tell people that I know my job. There was no casting department here. All the commercial films that were happening in those days did not have any place for me.
Independent films are the ones with the great possibility of keeping you on your toes, challenging your craft and skills, and forcing you to learn something new.
We actors should be given the highest awards for performing in the middle of people. I can prepare in the most crowded of places, and I know how to take a journey into my mind and separate myself from the crowd. I can act anywhere.
After 'Satya,' the industry could not think of me as anything but the villain. They were stereotyping me on the basis of my looks. I lost so much money refusing such roles - the purchase of a new house got delayed by seven years because I said no.
For me, portraying a character is not about liking or disliking it; it's about meeting a challenge that's thrown at you.
Actors like me endeavour to look for great roles and portraying them to the best of our ability. At times, it's noticed; at times, it's not.
My job is not to make you happy. As a filmmaker and as an actor, my job is not to make you feel happy. If you're used to those kind of films, don't come and watch my films.
When an artiste says that, after two heavy films, let me do a light one, somewhere they want to balance it out for the audience, not for themselves.
I'm an actor because I love acting, and my romance with this craft called acting is too intense. I'm in this business for a very selfish reason, and that is me, and nobody else. The audience loving it is by chance.
I am not a star. My face is not the kind that 50,000 people will faint just looking at it.
Manoj Bajpayee is a husband, a father, and an actor. He doesn't see his life beyond that.
I am probably the best example of an actor who has built his career on flops.
Stars have always been very good at what they do. They are born and blessed with charisma and power over the entire nation. One glimpse of a star makes people go berserk. Such magic cannot be created. You are born with it - or not.
John Abraham is a really good guy. We get along very well. It's a nice thing when you have a great tuning with your co-stars, as it makes the working experience all the better. Then you look forward to working with each other every day when you are shooting.
