Everybody wants to live. But sometimes the body just gives up.
— Amitabh Bachchan
Foreigners have no idea of the diversity of India and its culture. We hope to be able to give them a glimpse of that diversity.
Personally, when a controversy erupts, we decide first whether it requires clarification and, secondly, if it receives notice from authorities and the establishment, we submit responses to their queries.
I want to perform and be tested; I want the vibrant energy of the younger generation of directors and actors to rub off on me.
I want to keep working. I shall continue to do my best.
Very rarely have I had the opportunity to say lines which I would have said even if I wasn't working in a film.
What I do on film is part of my profession.
I'm very lucky and very fortunate to have survived and to still be working after 45 years.
I'm very fortunate to have spent so much time in the industry and to have lived through several generations of filmmakers, actors and technicians. There's a huge volume of experience seeing people change and seeing content change.
My mother came from a very affluent background, very Westernized, while my father was more Eastern. So I've had a very good blend of the East and the West. I guess this has been extremely helpful in making my career and the way I function.
It's frightening to be facing an audience. There is always the fear of what they think of you, what they are saying about you.
There are large numbers of people in India below the poverty line; there are large numbers of people who lead a meager existence. They want to find a little escape from the hardships of life and come and watch something colorful and exciting and musical. Indian cinema provides that.
'No' is an entire sentence in itself. No means no, and when somebody says it, you need to stop.
I like to feel the butterflies in the stomach, I like to go home and have a restless night and wonder how I'm going to be able to accomplish this feat, get jittery. That hunger and those butterflies in the stomach are very essential for all creative people.
The select group of people who do make realistic cinema, who do make cinema perhaps a little more acceptable to the Western audience, is a very small percentage.
There are many things that I feel I have missed out on.
I have never really been confident about my career at any stage.
The body is an amazing system.
Whatever I do becomes controversial.
Whether the work that I do shall succeed or achieve critical acclaim is for the audience to decide.
As a professional, I cannot afford to be complacent.
I get up in the morning, have a job to do, go there, come home, be with the family, that's it.
I would rather talk to a face than a camera.
The film industry is large enough and has many successful icons that have taken Indian cinema to shores beyond India. I think that Indian cinema itself needs to be applauded beyond one individual.
Coming together should be considered something positive for people and communities. When thoughts come together, that can be more positive than an individual thought.
I went into politics on an emotional level and soon realised that emotion has nothing to do with politics.
I like to rate myself as a performer upfront, both in films as well as in television.
I am insecure about tomorrow. Will I get another job? Will it be appreciated? I will pursue acting for as long as I have a face and body that is acceptable to the people, but I still worry that if I don't do better tomorrow, it will all go away.
We must have song and dance in our lives; we've had it ever since the inception of cinema in India. Our stories are very social-based, very human-based. We are a very emotional nation.
I'd like to believe that tomorrow is another challenge for me. I'm sure there is lots more for me to do, because there is lots and lots of stuff still to be explored.
I don't use any techniques; I'm not trained to be an actor. I just enjoy working in films.
Everyone must accept that we will age and age is not always flattering.
You don't see Indians in Hollywood films around which a story can revolve. As soon as we have a social presence in your society, I am sure there will be many actors from our part of the world that will be acting in Hollywood films.
Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio - he be soo gorgeous, no wonder all the ladies flockin' to him - He be Gatsby.
My opening words to anybody I hire are, 'I'm an extremely vulnerable person.'
I sometimes feel that I have been born to attract controversy.
Ram Gopal Varma is a most noteworthy talent and has given us some very valuable iconic films. I enjoy working with him.
Life is a blur when one is essaying different roles; it is so fulfilling.
These are rare moments in an actor's life, where you're put in an environment which is so natural, and you get natural performances.
'What will people say?' is a feeling every Indian girl grows up with.
I'm very thankful to directors and filmmakers who consider me in their films, and I hope I'm able to do justice to their films.
Audiences change because life changes. Countries change geographically, climatically, socially and morally. Many things happen, and cinema, in a sense, reflects what's happening in the world.
I don't have anything in particular to achieve; I don't want to go any particular direction. I just want to take up the challenges of life as we go along.
We play many emotions in our careers, emotions that in real life we would perform just once. For example, my character has died in about 10 films, so you have to keep searching for different ways to do it!
I think that it's important that actors keep getting challenged every day. For every creative person, it's a terrible moment when they say they have done all they want to do.
Because you are women, people will force their thinking on you, their boundaries on you. They will tell you how to dress, how to behave, who you can meet and where you can go. Don't live in the shadows of people's judgement. Make your own choices in the light of your own wisdom.
I know I should have never got into politics. And I've learned my lesson. No more politics.
Indian actors, because of the format of our stories, need to be good actors, and be able to perform emotional sequences, do a bit of comedy, dance and singing, action, because all of this forms just one film. In many ways I'd say there are greater demands on Indian actors than there are on Hollywood.
I'd love to romance Aishwarya Rai. But I'm 58 now. So I have to play her father.
I have never been a superstar and never believed in it.
