In real life, I don't cry too easily. I go numb.
Kay Kay Menon
Life is too short to hold regrets. Once it's done, you cannot regret it.
Terrorism is not a sign of courage. It means cowardice.
I find award functions laughable. To me, it is just like an extension of a college annual day function.
Roles are extremely finite, but human beings are infinite.
I have no issues if audiences don't like a film or a performance, and the film doesn't do well. My problem is when they say that the film was good and performances were excellent, but the film didn't run. I have a problem when that happens.
For me, making time for God is like making time to fill my stomach - like the physical space in the stomach needs food, spiritual space in one's soul needs regular prayer.
I can't look at the mirror beyond two minutes. I don't know what to look at. What is the point of looking at yourself? You can't change your face.
There are things apart from films that inspire me. I play a lot of sports and love it. It is the only field where you can't become a star without actual performance.
A simple love story can be made into an interesting film if the film-maker can think differently.
I've worked with a lot of people who have a lot of integrity towards cinema.
I feel the dams of emotions open up more easily when one is acting.
I was constantly on stage in school, and even while I was pursuing my MBA, I knew that I wanted to eventually become an actor.
I thought running around trees is a gardener's job and not an actor's. However, if the script demands that I run around trees, well, you never know.
See, our country has certain problems. Certain psychological problems. We are dynasty lovers. We love the fact that this guy comes from this family and we start giving them concessions.
I can't really iterate what I look for in a script. It's a very subjective thing. Like an organic attachment you have with the script and characters.
There's a need to create a space for different kind of films. Let all kind of films co-exist peacefully.
I had these false ambitions - marketing and MBA. I didn't do very badly at it, but I realised my calling was something else.
I don't analyze after I've done a film. So I have no dream role.
I get paid to act. I've never acted free for anybody and I'd rather be rewarded than awarded.
You have got to dig deep into your own spectrum while playing a character. If I am playing evil, believe me, I am bringing out the evil from within me.
I remember my first role as a sunflower at nine.
People often accuse me of being serious. Have I played serious roles in 'Honeymoon Travels' and 'Sankat City?' It is just that after the films were made, producers did not have money to bombard it all over the place.
Cinema is not about wearing 'bikni' and showing 'six packs'... All these are secondary.
We are a jingoistic nation - whether it is politics or films or whatever. We can posthumously shower praises and accolades on people, but when they are alive, we don't bother about them. A classic case is Om Puri.
I don't have the expertise in that department, I seriously lack the skill to market myself.
I was born in Kerala, where my maternal grandparents lived, and stayed there till the age of one, after which I came to Maharashtra to live with my parents and moved all around the state with my father, who worked as a superintendent in an ordnance factory.
Preparing for roles sounds so academic, doesn't it? It feels as if you are preparing for an examination! In a creative medium, the preparation is of an entirely different kind, and for me, the ideas flow from the script itself.
I sift through the scripts offered to me and see what is worth attempting, because I think there is no point in wasting your time in doing something which you are not too keen on. I try and do whatever I feel interested in.
I like to be by myself, probably because I have been a single child.
I can't pretend to do something I don't like.
I don't bother about awards.
Be honest and accept it if you do not have talent. And if you do, hone your skills.
If you don't have integrity, don't be in cinema.
The paradox of perfection is that you should try and achieve it by doing quality work even though you know you can never achieve it.
Acting is a symbiotic process, it is an amalgamation of many many things put together and when there is a call for action, that's when you surrender and the moment of truth comes out, that's when you perform. That is the process for every good actor.
Every human being has a plethora of emotions. As an actor, we are lucky to take them out and portray onscreen. But in normal life you can't do that. That is the charm of leading an actor's life.
Content films necessary don't go by the content, they go by the emotions. Content films are about content whether you want to portray the content or sell it through humour, through seriousness, is a choice of the filmmaker.
I have lived life on my own terms.
I believe religion is a branch of spirituality, often misinterpreted and twisted to suit people's ideas. In truth, religion and spirituality are meant to co-exist happily.
I like to promote my work. I do the promotion for my work because that is required. Apart from that I just don't know how to promote myself, to be honest, I think my work ideally should speak for itself.
Yes, I am extremely choosy. You decide whether to do a film or not only after you meet and talk to the film-maker. Only someone who thinks out of the box excites me.
I don't play roles, I play characters. There is a vast difference between the two.
I returned to Pune in the 90s to do my MBA from the University of Pune as in that period there were not many MBA institutes in the city!
You have to be truthful and believable in whatever you do and that is the founding principle of acting.
If you make a good film, then there's no harm if it achieves commercial success.
The city helped open my mind creatively and culturally. Pune has the power to make you realise your dream.
Let's not betray cinema with marketing inside the film. If it's done outside, then it's ok. That is essential to integrity.
I am an avid tennis player.
I was true to myself because I realized I was a better actor than signer.
