I don't think there's anything like love at first sight. What happens is actually lust at first sight.
Abhay Deol
I can be lazy, don't get me wrong. But it's not laziness that's holding me back, it's the system where I don't fit in.
I have cheated. But I don't regret it because we were not serious. I wouldn't have ever done it if I were serious about the girl.
A decade down the line, I don't want to sit back and think that I didn't do anything to stop disasters like the extinction of certain species.
There should be a tacit code or understanding among privileged people not to endorse things that give others an inferiority complex.
When you do films after films, you don't let life happen. At least, in my case, I end up relying too much on emotions, which aren't raw enough. Travel helps me to get a renewed approach towards things.
The reaction to 'Dev D' success wasn't a balanced one from my end. I ran away! I should have stayed around and seen how I could balance things. But I wasn't capable of that.
As a teenager, I used to dress up like a hippie. My clothes weren't posh.
I am most attracted to characters and stories that I can relate to. The traditional formula of 'larger than life' I never found attractive.
I was always looking for relatability, because I am not someone cut out for larger than life roles.
We are always larger than life because we come from this mentality that since we are a very poor nation, we need an escapist cinema to take us out of our miseries. And that's where Bollywood comes from.
It is definitely hard when you're going against the tide. Of course, it is tough. But does that mean you can't do it? No, it depends on your strength, stamina and ability to take so much power against you.
We all have to find a cause we believe in and pursue it. Sometimes it may cost you your job, your personal life, your love life, etc.
If I look at Dad's earlier work - 'Bandini,' 'Satyakam,' 'Chupke Chupke,' 'Jeevan Mrityu' - and then his later work, I realize that when something works, the industry doesn't want you to do anything else. They just typecast and milk you.
I'm not cut out to play a filmi hero. I don't look like a hero.
I want to do different roles and not get stuck in a rut and 'Shanghai' will be one film I'm absolutely looking forward to.
In Indian cinema there are no professional voice trainers.
In real life I don't chant. Nor do I believe in idol worship.
I enjoy films like 'American Beauty' and want to do similar films that reflect our culture.
I am trying to be true to the work that I want to do and be allowed to make the choices that I want to make.
I feel my advantage of coming from a film family is - having seen fame up close, having seen the industry so close and how it works, I was not enamored by fame.
I wasn't looking to be a star, I just happened to love acting, I was a reluctant actor.
Maybe I didn't take the advantage and become a star and get all the brands so that I could solidify my space in the world.
I was termed 'choosy' because when an actor decides to go against the wind and takes on only non-formula films, he is not left with much choice.
I have family in America and I lived with them for a while. Every few years, I feel the need to disassociate myself from what I do. It really helps the actor within me.
Even as a kid, classmates asked pointed personal questions about my family. I have conditioned myself to handle it with maturity.
I don't see myself being perceived as a Bollywood star and I wouldn't want to be that either.
I always wanted my work to speak for itself but I realized you have to show people a little bit of yourself and interact with them, especially before your film releases.
I am a citizen of the planet and I want to do films that appeal to people, not communities.
The kind of stories I like often comes from debutant directors.
The kind of content I want to be part of is hardly made.
As long as it excites me, I am game for it.
The craziest thing I've done for love? Put my life on hold.
Love has no nationality for me. I have a preference for dark skin but that's just superficial.
As a kid I wanted to run away from home every time I got a scolding for being naughty but I never did. Knowing now what happens to unprotected kids on the streets I'm glad I didn't.
Los Angeles is much like Mumbai, the film industry rules the city over most other professions, so it feels like home.
Tamil for me is my cousin Esha. I even told her that I was preparing to play a Tamilian and asked her if she could teach me the language.
I know there is a higher being and I respect that force.
Larger-than-life roles have never excited me. I'd rather play someone real who goes through obstacles and becomes a hero.
After 'Socha Na Tha' flopped, nobody wanted to work with me. I became very bitter and angry. So now when the industry and the audience accept me, I feel more empowered.
When a film is good, the lines between single-screen and multiplex blur.
I think marriage is a cultural thing - it's my opinion that nature doesn't tell someone to get married.
I may or may not get married but I will settle down in a live-in.
I like films that are edgy, provocative, non-formula and original.
I believe there are two kinds of journalists. One who sells a story by being creative, and one who sells a story by being sensationalist.
If you perceive someone to be stylish then even if they are shabbily dressed you would consider that as a new style statement.
I like subtlety, blending in as opposed to screaming out 'look at me' with the way I dress.
I did get a reputation for being choosy and not very easy to be approached, and none of that is true. It is not that I am not approachable, it is just that I am trying to find myself and establish who I am as an artist.
I don't think I am fearless. I am just me.
Half your battle is won when the writing is good, and then you as an artist bring your personality into it.
