A Bollywood hero, for most people, has been a Raj, a Rahul or a Prem... it's now a part of the psyche.

I don't like people waiting on me. I feel it is an unnecessary expense.

I find theatre easier than films, because it gives you an environment of a dark hall, the audience concentrating with you... whereas, film sets are not conducive to long rehearsals, and it is difficult to pick up the emotions amidst all that is going on around you.

Theatre is great, but we don't live in an idealistic world, and we have to pay our bills.

When we are younger, we say a lot of things without often believing in them. The thoughts within you are much more important, and so often, one can't completely describe what one feels. As we grow older, we realize that there is more to love than what is expressed in the conventional sense of the terms.

I wouldn't mind doing a film revolving around horses, but I wouldn't dilute my equity just sitting on one.

A few years ago, when I had no work and started believing that films weren't a viable career, I thought of finding another job. I started training and riding horses and got consumed by that. It was a boon in disguise.

It's too bad I'm not a flirt. When I'm on the sets, I'm too busy working on my scenes to look at the ladies.

You have to make enough noise to be cast in the right films, and the best way to make that noise is to do lots of good work.

You don't run from the bad things in life; learn from them, because your worst is what will lead you to your best.

Success is a high, but the way up is hard, and you have to give your all.

I think it would be pompous to say I am an underrated actor. I don't think it is for me to think and decide; it is for people to decide. But I am glad I am underrated than being overrated - that is something I would find hard to digest.

Over the years, I have realized that there's more to a film's fate than just good acting and a solid script. It needs to be marketed well. It's the package that sells - the songs, action, actors, etc.

Love can never make you weak, and love is not restricted to opposite sex. I love my parents, I love my animals, and I love my profession.

You can't say the public likes generic characters. Give others a chance, go for a more rooted and honest characterisation, take some risk, and then let the public choose.

My mom often tells me to get married, but she gets it now that I don't want to. Like any other mom, she is worried, but she also understands the demands of my profession. I am blessed to have a family like this.

During my theatre days, I was more comfortable doing comedy. It's such an irony. I have always played a buffoon on stage, and yet I don't have any comic role to my credit.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed playing crime branch officer Gautam Savant, it drained a lot out of me, too. It shook my faith in myself, as I explored my hidden side and wondered if I was just acting or using the character as an excuse to vent my mean side.

Theatre gives you wings as an actor.

I find solace in animals. I have got a stray dog at home called Candy. I picked it up while I was waiting at the airport one day. I always wanted to have a 'macho' dog but got this sweet little thing instead.

I have made a promise to myself that I will have no limitations as an actor. I have realised I have to pay attention to the commercials or the business aspect of cinema, but deep inside, I am purely an artiste.

I wouldn't mind going half naked on stage, if that is what my role demands.

It is important to keep the filmmakers interested in you so they can offer you everything and anything. We actors are not given work on the basis of audience poll; the filmmaker will cast you after they see and like your work. It is essential to do different kind of films and not get typecast.

From being a waiter, to a door-to-door salesman, to a car-washer, to a delivery boy - I have done it all.