PERSONAL QUOTES

(November 2000): “I take all this hysteria as a compliment.”

(2000): “I am glad I have the intelligence to understand what is happening to me. If I allow myself to get affected by all this hype, I’ll stunt my growth as an actor and be damned for life. I know that I still have a long way to go before I can even aspire to equal the achievements of any of the superstars. I know I am good at my job, and I am sure I will be damn good one day but right now, I also know how bad I can be.”

(November 2000): “I have been elevated to such a high status that the fall will be very steep.”

(December 2000): “Every once a week, I get up and feel that I cannot act any more. I just get very unsure of myself. But, once I give my first shot, I’m back on track. Insecurity isn’t bad, it makes me work harder.”

(December 2000): “Some day I want to be better than Shahrukh Khan. And I will be better than him, if I continue working the way I am. Some day, I would like to achieve more than what Shahrukh has achieved in his ten years. But first, give me my ten years of time.”

(February 2001): “Every moment of my life, I live under threat. I have two gunmen with me. If I die now I will be immortal. Everything finished in a year. I will be a legend!”

(July 2001): “I thought of every possible angle which would drive me towards stardom. But I never thought of, when I become a star, what will I do, how will I handle it. Everything has hit me all at once. I realize I don’t have the talent to handle it.”

(July 2001): “Hollywood is definitely happening to me but right now I’m not happening for Hollywood. Maybe if offers still last by 2005 I will. I’m committed until then.”

(2001): I make the best Spanish omelettes in the world, but I won’t tell you the recipe!

(March 2002): “I can be the best James Bond there is.”

(March 2000): I can never wear the same shirt twice because it’s always torn by the time I come home!

(June 2002): I won’t do a film with any film-maker unless he gives me a bound script… My date diary’s blank from 2003 onwards.

(2000, when asked about his fantasy woman): “Gabrielle Anwar. I had a huge crush on her for ever so long. Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). I thought she was really hot!”

(December 2002): “After two years of being in films I’ve realized that I don’t need to do movies just for the sake of it. Now I will not do a film unless the role is to die for. It may sound preposterous but I’d also like to do something like ‘Spiderman’ or ‘A Beautiful Mind’. Only such cinema stimulates me. I don’t want to do the routine stuff.”

(July 2003): “It’s not a prerequisite for an actor to be obsessed about his looks. I know there are people who don’t look in the mirror at all and I’m getting there.”

(July 2003): “I’ve never had a decent haircut except the short one I’m sporting right now for “Lakshya”.”

(July 2003): “I’m not religious. I don’t visit temples. But I hope there is a superpower.”

(July 2003): “Of course I’m curious about porn. It exists because there is a market for it. It needs to exist but it should be properly channelised. It shouldn’t be accessible to everyone.”

(July 2003): “My physique is all wrong. I’d like to change everything about my looks.”

(July 2003): “Quite often I feel that there is no God. War, natural calamities, handicaps, suffering. When I see all this, I fear there’s no God. And the thought scares me shitless.”

“I’m a child myself. So how can I think of having one right now!”

(September 2003): I’m above hits and flops now. I wish to go down in the annals of Indian cinema history as a good actor.

(January 2004): I don’t know fashion and I have no taste.

(January 2004): I’ve scrapped my entire working style and taken on a new approach. The release of Lakshya (2004) will prove whether the new approach is right or not. If it doesn’t work I’ll go back to the old mode of working. If it works, I’ll be adopting this style in all my roles.

(2004): I would like to meet the person who shot my father.

(July 2004): I am the person I am today primarily due to the fine example set by both my parents.

(July 2004): I’ve done films without optimum excitement. It didn’t work. I can afford to take my time now.

(July 2004): “Lakshya” is my most subtle performance. “Koi… Mil Gaya” was an in-your-face performance.

(July 2004): I’ve done various films for various wrong reasons. They didn’t get me anywhere

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(August 2004): I am a complete ‘foodie’. It’s in the genes. I can’t stop eating! It’s only that I fear of the world finding out that I have a bad body which makes me strive to have my diet in place and exercise right.