Actor

I had to continuously do films to shrug off the mini-screen image and it was a struggle. Initially, I was taken off from many films due to this and I dealt with it by signing every other film I got, even compromising on the quality.

I don't like violence, in reel or real life. I prefer the quiet, beautiful genre of movies where everything is rosy and pleasant. I stay away from extreme sadness in my scripts and, somehow, I can't make movies for kids.

I am comfortably ensconced in my position as an actor.

Even if you only play a cameo in a film, it becomes a part of you and you get butterflies in your stomach on release day.

I like to be easy-going but if someone wants me to be tough, I can put on that image as per the situation demands.

I used to read voraciously while in school and cinema was always a fascination. Law was the safe backup plan.

I have a fondness for words. On that note, I don't consider my lyrics to be all that great. I like to call myself a supplier of words rather than a lyricist.

I never see myself in a script. For instance, I tried to cast others for 'Beautiful', which didn't work out and I ended up doing it.

I found that direction is the most enjoyable part in filmmaking. The easiest and most comfortable is acting and the loneliest and toughest is writing.

In all my screenplays, I have been exploring various aspects of femininity.

It was not easy to get rid of that 'tv actor' label.

I revere my serials. But the reality, at the same time, is that it is difficult to get a break in films. I have been unceremoniously ousted from 20-25 films because I am a serial actor.

If you have a perfect script, the right actors and technicians, and a good producer, direction is the most enjoyable profession in the world.

I have always been fascinated by chefs and I make it a point to meet them at all the hotels I visit.

The Dolphins' is my tribute to all those selfless mothers and women that I have ever come across, including my own mother, Indira. Some 75 per cent of mothers that I have seen are like that, all of them worthy of emulation.

So, when I write, I am the last choice as an actor.

Among my friends, I am still that guy who is just out of college and nobody treats me like a geek.

I just write by instinct and my screenplays are often the effort of a year-long penance on a subject.

I love experimenting, playing characters that are not even remotely connected to my personality.

I am probably the only actor who came from television serials to films and was able to work in films this long. Of the 75-odd films I've done, in around 40 of them, I've been the hero.