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I must confess that Bollywood definitely happened by chance to me, but once it did - I took it up seriously, and made a profession out of it. And it's the best feeling in the world to be enjoying your work and getting paid to do it! It doesn't get better than that.
The thing about India is that even if the economic backgrounds are different, the cultural background is the same. Somebody who is working as a tailor will also tie a black thread around his kid's wrist; so will somebody in Bollywood. That's the fun of being Indian.
One of the things that I really love about doing a film is working with actors and the whole casting process. I feel I'm not looking for actors. I feel I'm looking for characters. If the characters come from Bollywood, fine. If they come from Indian theater, perfect.
For Ananya, It's Bollywood all the way. She was obsessed about it, I thought there was something wrong with her. She was good at academics, so I thought she would become a doctor like my both parents. But, when she got to class VI or so I knew she would be an actress.
There were offers from a few Bollywood filmmakers, but I was sceptical as to whether those films will do justice to my vision or even my life. I was also apprehensive because what if I sign an agreement and give the rights to some filmmaker, and he shelves the project?
From 'Just Mohabbat' to my Bollywood movie 'Tarzan - The Wonder car,' I still get messages from fans saying that they are watching my movie. And then when I made a comeback with 'Ek Hasina Thi' as a villain, people enjoyed it as well. Even my wife Ishita loves that show.
If Madhur Bhandarkar makes a movie tomorrow, people will expect him to do something like 'Chandni Bar' or 'Corporate!' Similarly, it takes time for filmmakers to break that stereotype and attempt something new - it is difficult for filmmakers to be versatile in Bollywood.
I was lucky enough to have parents with a huge film library. My mum is a huge Bollywood film geek. When we were kids, we would watch Indian films with her as well as Chinese and Japanese films. My father was more into the classics, American films, and also Hitchcock films.
When I was child, I saw the 'Ram Leela' performed on stage. Now there is the film 'Ram Leela,' and its maker actually wanted me to do a song for Akshay Kumar in 'Gabbar.' Akshay was one of the first Bollywood A-listers to believe in me. We jelled before we jammed together.
In Bollywood, you have to do one film at a time, and there are no mixed schedules. And doing four films at a time is out of the question. Telugu film industry works very differently. But the kind of films I'm getting here are better than what I've been offered in Bollywood.
I wouldn't want to do a Bollywood film per se, but I would like to do an Indian-language film. For some reason I think Bollywood has become synonymous with commercial cinema, which is song and dance and everything that is larger than life, and I am interested in the reality.
Music, for me, is vital. Punjabi, Bollywood, Sufi, RnB... I listen to it all. When I'm not listening to music, you will find me chatting with friends. Off the field, I just let my instincts take over. I certainly don't think about batting, or which bowlers I'm going to face.
I think when you're a new actor in Bollywood, it's about seizing the moment. If you can prove to the audience there is an emotional vulnerability to your character, regardless of it being black or gray, I think the audience will accept you in any role - be it romantic or action.
Some of my fans tell me that my voice is more suited for romantic numbers, some others say I do Sufi songs better. But that just goes to say that people are more aware of the different genres now. More people are getting exposed to sufi music because of Bollywood, which is good.
In daily life, there are times when people are happy to talk about problems, but when the society is troubled by something, there is never a larger platform for discussion. Bollywood is religion in our country and that is the best place where you can place those questions on the table.
At the end of the day, we always show that truth triumphs. We don't leave the movie in the middle saying, 'Great, pick whatever you want to and go out there and do something wrong'. Bollywood is not the only influence in a person's life. They are also affected by their family and friends.
Being a part of the Bollywood industry gives you to the kind of exposure that's unimaginable. You also tap into this experience of technical expertise that this industry has been carrying along for several years. I didn't take part in the industry with an agenda in mind. If it happens, great.
I don't know why I chose to make my debut with 'Dil Maange More.' The film had three leading ladies - Tulip Joshi, Ayesha Takia and me - opposite Shahid Kapoor. I was fresh to Bollywood at that time because I had just come back from England and had no clue about hero-heroine dynamics in India.
There are cliques in Bollywood, and people stick together, but I have always tried to stick to my work. As an industry, Bollywood is very competitive, and I'm very competitive as a person, but I've never been a part of any clique, and I've always worked with all actors and directors, all camps.
I have a lot of friends in the Australian cricket team, and they have told me a lot about India. Brett Lee was telling me about the food and Bollywood. I am the kind of person who likes to embrace the culture of a place, and I really want to travel and see the various temples around the country.
I would like to see more Bollywood films! The more stylized musicals are a new trend in the U.S. We are beginning to make musicals again after a long break, practically since the days of the studio structure, so perhaps we can learn a few things from Bollywood about this fun style of film-making.
I saw 'Brokeback Mountain' in a packed house in Chelsea, New York, when I was filming a Bollywood film there. Chelsea, being a predominately gay neighbourhood, had the most euphoric reaction. I saw couples holding hands and crying at the end. It was the most heartening viewing I have ever been to.
The true treasure lies within. It is the underlying theme of the songs we sing, the shows we watch and the books we read. It is woven into the Psalms of the Bible, the ballads of the Beatles and practically every Bollywood film ever made. What is that treasure? Love. Love is the nature of the Divine.
'Suit' garnered a lot of appreciation and love from the audience, and it gives me immense happiness to start my Bollywood journey with such a wonderful track. 'Hindi Medium' posed a perfect and appropriate opportunity to showcase my song and ensure that the beautiful track reaches the global audience.
The prime reason behind making 'A Flying Jatt' was that there are barely any 'desi' superhero films in Bollywood which Indians can relate to. I wanted to exhibit that a superhero is more than just superpowers and leads a normal life like the others do. I wanted to attach a human factor to a superhero.
I started doing Bollywood and film music, and now, it has come to a point where I've started to say no. I want to do my own music. I have been there and done that, so I am not there to achieve that any more. I just want to put my music out there, and if people listen it, okay; if they don't, then fine.
'Race' is one of the most successful film franchises in Bollywood. So I was really excited and honoured on being approached for the film. But since I was already committed to another film during the same time as the makers are planning to shoot 'Race 3,' things eventually didn't work out, unfortunately.
I want to do Hindi films, but a proper one and a good production. I'm even open to multi-starrers because those work better in Bollywood. But it should be with only Bollywood technicians, not the South Indian team. There's no point to my going to Bollywood if I work with the same artistes and technicians.
I have been training under Melvin Louis and Dimple Kotecha. They're very different people and their styles and training procedures are also different. Melvin is more into the improvised version, he mixes hip-hop, street style, Bollywood etc. He is more into the madness and gives me the freedom to try my own thing.
As a child growing up in a grey-skied Yorkshire village, I would occasionally happen upon a Bollywood movie on the television. After a few minutes watching a bunch of sari-clad dancers cavorting on a Swiss mountain to tuneless music, I would switch over to some proper drama about housing estates and single mothers.
There are many singers who have got an exceptional talent, but spend their lives singing in local trains or hotels. Does the country even know who they are? Music in India is restricted only to Bollywood. Whoever manages to make a mark there is remembered. The ones who fail to reach and make it big there are forgotten.
Just because of the #MeToo movement in Hollywood, after Oscar-winning actresses including Angelina Jolie came out and spoke against Harvey Weinstein, we also want to talk about something that has been happening in Bollywood for long; like several years ago, Mamta Kulkarni had spoken against filmmaker Rajkumar Santoshi.
I pick my actors primarily based on my gut-feel. They could be rank newcomers or established stars, but if I feel they'll do justice to my characters, they are on. I think Bollywood is now looking towards Kollywood for new faces, and, to my mind, Suriya will be a very successful crossover star because he's very versatile.
When I was approached for the Kannada version of the film, the makers said it would be their version of 'The Dirty Picture,' based on the life of Silk Smitha. So, I asked them for the exact story. But, I was shocked after hearing the complete story. It was neither like the Bollywood version, nor about the life of Silk Smitha.
When I was designing Mrs. Obama's dress, half of me was saying, 'What would Halston do?' The other half was saying, 'Be who you are.' Halston, me, America, India - it's been such a great combination. This is what makes me who I am, with the clean lines I learned from Halston and complicated Indian over-the-top Bollywood traditions.
The dancing style in Bollywood has changed a lot after 2000, mainly because of the dance-based reality TV shows. Everyone knows about the varied dance styles nowadays. The actors are also quick to pick up dance forms such as locking, popping, breaking and hip-hop. So, this factor has changed the industry's dancing style as a whole.
Films with female protagonists don't attract many eyeballs. Most of them are perceived as feminist films. If Bollywood starts giving women major roles in entertaining movies, then the audience, too, will open up to the idea of watching commercial films in which the actresses do more than just play the role of the hero's love interest.
The fact that I have done films down South didn't boost or hamper my chances here. In fact, I was still shooting for both my Telugu films when I met Ashu sir for 'Mohenjo Daro.' During the audition, he gave me five scenes with lengthy dialogues. Once I cleared them, he gave me a song to dance to. So, my Bollywood entry was no cakewalk.
Today's kids have a mind of their own, and they know how to exercise it. Even if I wanted to tell Sara or my son Ibrahim how to lead their lives - which I don't - they would not listen to me. Luckily, Sara chose to complete her studies before pursuing acting. She attended Columbia University and then devoted her attention to Bollywood.
My mother was a writer. She acted in one film before she decided that Bollywood wasn't good enough for her. My two sisters and I probably learned from her how to get under other people's skin. In contrast, my father was a simple man despite his success at business. He was a people person, and I think that's what led him to join politics.
I was in art school, and we had all these random classes. We'd listen to a lot of Bollywood. I'd listen to Spanish music - and I don't even speak Spanish, but Hector Lavoe is amazing - we listened to French music like Edith Piaf. She's tight. I like cool vocal inflections; I like cool sounds. I pretty much listen to anything I think is good.
I got my big break in Bollywood with Anurag Kashyap's 'Raman Raghav 2.0' when I got a call from one of the casting directors to appear for an audition. At that point, I didn't think that I would make the cut since I was auditioning for a Bollywood film for the very first time. Within an hour of the audition, I was told that I had been selected.
I have been into bodies and fitness, so I am very critical about how a body should look in terms of flaunting it. I would never fall down and roll and do a cleavage shot - I have seen those in Bollywood films, and those are things I cannot tolerate. I wouldn't do that. That's not me - I'd rather look sharp and sexy and stylish just doing a walk.
I remember, at one point, I was actually studying it kind of intensively around 2001, when Hrithik Roshan was big. I wanted to learn more about it, as I've always been intrigued by the craft of Bollywood, in that how well they were shot in glorious widescreen. I would actually go to see Bollywood films in the theaters in New York and New Jersey.