Naseeruddin Shah

“It's a blessing to stay a child all your life - pretend to be this and that. And get paid for it.”

“'Macbeth,' I am ambivalent about. I don't like that play, in fact.”

“Undeniable though it is that many Indian Muslims misguidedly consider Pakistan their haven, the immeasurably greater number who take intense pride in being Indian and who connect deeply with...”

“I don't take reviews seriously. I don't even read them. Who is this person blasting forth his opinion? What's his worth, and how different is he from any man on the street?”

“'Bombay Boys' is among my favourite movies and my favourite performance of myself.”

“During the shooting of 'Manthan,' I lived in the hut, learnt to make cow dung cakes and milk a buffalo. I would carry the buckets and serve the milk to the unit to get the physicality of the...”

“Acting is no longer a taboo. The stigma has gone because people have realised that it's a perfectly valid career choice.”

“My dad occupied a government position, deputy collector, in a city called Nainital, so we had access to the cinemas at any time. I saw my first movies when I was very young.”

“My relationship with my father still troubles me because it never got resolved, and there was no closure. There was a lot of bitterness, but having written about it, I found that I was able...”

“It's completely beyond comprehension that you just can't say anything without offending somebody or the other.”

“Everyone equates good cinema with boring shots and boring films - where a character takes 10 minutes to walk down a corridor, and still nothing happens at the end of the shot. Those films tr...”

“Humans are the only ones who are the custodians of other people's morals.”

“My agent wanted me to audition for Dumbledore's character after Richard Harris died. I was asked if I would like to audition for it. But I wouldn't audition for it.”

“I have had enough of an interesting life to not embellish it in any way.”

“A family business in cinema is not necessarily creative. It is generally about prolonging your family fortune.”

“I feel that cinema can't change society or bring a revolution. I'm also not sure of cinema as a medium of education. Documentaries can be educative, not feature films.”

“When I saw Spencer Tracy in 'The Old Man and the Sea,' I realised the distinction between being an actor and a film star. He was both, and I, too, resolved to try and be both.”

“When I first dreamt of becoming a movie star, I wanted to be a Gary Cooper: I wanted to be rich and famous, living in palaces and wearing dark glasses and white suits.”

“Unfortunately, in our country, crying is mistaken for good acting.”

“I don't scoff at the desire to make good movies. I scoff at the quality at poseurs masquerading as masters of the medium.”