I remember when I was in Allahabad University, Amitabh Bachchan had come to campaign in Allahabad. I realized then the sort of expectations people had from him.

Wearing the sari, adhering to the parda system and all those things are really taxing. After wearing a woman's attire, I came to understand what they go through daily.

After a certain point of time, life's practicality hits you. So I got into theatre, did stage plays and worked along with Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar, people who are committed to the craft part.

Explaining to my children, especially my daughter, that I will be dressed as a woman, and will be playing a eunuch was a tough task.

As an actor I want more and more challenges, I want to reinvent myself.

My father was into politics. After his death things got slow. We were meeting different parties and everywhere I heard people grumbling and cursing politics and the state of the nation. I made an effort and I am trying to fulfill my social responsibility.

There was a time when villains were stylized as very fashionable with gelled hair, girls in arms and cigar in mouth but now films have come closer to the reality. Realism has entered our industry.

Television demands continuity and more work month after month. One has to also maintain quality as it reaches not just India but U.K., Canada, Pakistan, and Dubai as well. It is very powerful. And the risk of flopping like a film is also not there!

I had been working nonstop for two years and needed a break. Instead of flying or booking myself at the usual holiday spots, we decided to drive across south India. The only thing that changes in the landscape are the posters of film stars and politicians.

I started my career in movies with Sanjay Dutt in 'Yalgaar' and then in 'Aatish.' And I've the greatest respect for him.

I'm a self-made actor in Bollywood. And when I see actors far more good-looking and talented than me struggling for a place, I feel quite happy with my place.

I've played positive characters. But those films haven't been noticed.

Any holiday my group of friends and I managed to get, we would catch the early morning train to Lucknow to watch films.

If I am not playing the villain then I'll play the friend, or the brother who dies in the third reel.

In a film, there are too many characters. If the film is not a hit, then nobody really notices your work.

On television one gets to do things in detail and at an easier pace. You can experiment a lot with the character, give it lot more time, and let it grow.

In a typical Hindi film, there's the role of the hero, the heroine, and the other important character is the villain.

I have played a cop a lot over the years and sometimes I get a bit scared of being typecast.

Many number of times I say no when a producer or a director asks me to do a cop's role, unless the film is very interesting.

Both films and TV have their compunctions, their positives and negatives. For example, I explored a character at great length in 'Maryada'... which can be the ultimate high for an actor, but I won't get this luxury as a film person.

The simple, sweet films without the star power often manage to tell a better story.

I may have given my best performance but what if the role gets edited?

My father was an MLA and I've grown up knowing the kind of stuff that goes behind the working of a party and the role of the party people, and I used to think that one day I too would be a part of it. But when acting happened, politics took a backseat in my mind and I concentrated more into building my acting career.

Because you are seen on the screen, whether big or small, the people in remote places are in complete awe of you.

I'm confident about my stint with politics. But I won't leave acting, one, because it brings me my daily bread, and second, I realized that whatever little extra recognition I have today, it's thanks to my acting career.

Yes, it is funny that most of the roles that I have played so far have been negative. I have been typecast as a villain.

Waxing is a very painful exercise and I don't know how women do it so often.

Getting into acting was a challenge for me as I belonged to a political family.

After my schooling in Meerut, I was sent to Allahabad for further studies to become an IAS officer. It was there that I got the freedom to do whatever I wanted to, and it was in Allahabad that I first did theatre.

I never got a lead role and I make no bones about it.

But I'll always be glad for knowing a person like Shah Rukh. He is one man who hasn't changed at all.