“An actor has to remember the primary reason why he chose the profession that he did. If every role that I do doesn’t challenge me, then what is the point of being an actor?”

No matter what you achieve, what you want to aspire to be, or how famous and powerful you become, the most important thing is whether you are excited about each and every moment of your life because of your work and people around you.

Practical knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work is much better. Theoretical knowledge is important, but I think practical knowledge works better.

When I was in the eighth standard, I would dance to ‘Suraj hua madham.’ I have to achieve many things before I become even the ‘S’ of SRK.

TV helped me understand camera angles, close-ups, master shots.

What keeps me going are my learnings, which I would rather call my ‘experience,’ and my urge to explore.

I have made a lot of mistakes, but I am proud of them all.

What people think of me doesn’t affect me. As bizarre as it sounds, I don’t have a Google alert on my phone; I don’t read newspapers, and I don’t watch television. If something important happens, I will get to know about it.

I realised quite early that by the time I articulate my thoughts into words, I’m on to another thought. And what comes out wasn’t what I thought of exactly. So not talking was a better option.

I left everything I had to become an actor. So, I better be excited, or otherwise, there is no point in doing all this. Else I would end up being disappointed with whatever I achieve.

Since I think I am very boring in normal life, I tend to hide behind all these exciting characters, making people believe that I am someone else entirely. That feeling is very powerful.

People assume that actors working in films won’t have the time to do theatre. But I make sure that whenever I’m free, I watch a play.

I read the script. If I like it, I would do anything I am asked to.

As an actor, you think you know your craft, you know the conflicts in your character, but often you don’t.

I never think about what people will think when they watch me on screen.

I am not bothered with whether my characters are conventional or not. Because I am not in this for the designer labels and the autographs.

I think people generally are lost, as they keep thinking about what is going to happen and what they have done. They are not alive anymore. The art of listening is missing. In their head, they are doing something else.

More than an actor, I am a performer. I’m a great believer

I can fight with all actors, I can face them and win, but I cannot fight aliens.

There are actors who can pull of a writer’s lines; I am not competent enough to do that.

Basically I am just another actor who loves his work and this thing about age only exists in the media.

I never wanted to be an actor but ended up being one.

Roles don’t fascinate me. It is the narrative, the screenplay that is fascinating.

I’m an actor who evolves once the shoot starts.

I wanted to be an actor, like, so, so bad. I took acting classes, I auditioned for Disney, and then I realized how nervous I got with remembering lines.