I was overjoyed when I was offered the title role in ‘Well Done Abba.’ I was ready for the role even before I heard the story because you don’t ask questions when it is Shyam Benegal’s film. It is the chance of a lifetime.
When I was child, I never spoke. Teacher used to write remarks on my note book. My mom sent me to a trainer. I started talking, and it gave me confidence.
I used to follow celebrities, and I remember I watched Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt shooting for ‘Sadak’. I was standing on the road at three in the night, but little did I know that I would be making a film with Sanjay at some point in my career.
I’m not a hero or a superstar. I’m an everyday guy. I feel happy when children approach me. I feel that something good is happening in life when little kids recognise me.
I usually go with roles that I find entertaining. But every once in a while, there comes along a film that has an important social message. As actors, we have a certain responsibility toward our audience.
No affairs for me. It is so wonderful to have a family to come home to, to sit with them, pull each other’s legs… To lose all of that for what? Who’s got the time? I’m having great fun working.
Very few movies remain in public memory as landmark films and I want to see whether 3 Idiots will be up there with some of the wonderful films that have come out of this country…
I don’t mind being identified as any character as long as I’m doing a good job as an actor. I have done all kinds of roles – from an editor, judge, police officer, murderer to a corrupt businessman.
I bask in the affection I get on the streets. I recently went into the kitchen of a restaurant to meet the cooks. They were people I didn’t know, but what a joy it was meet them! Such experiences wouldn’t happen if I were doing only one kind of cinema.
