Nepotism has always existed in Bollywood.

Acting is the most difficult job in the world.

People should start appreciating films where women are at the centre.

Watching an Amitabh Bachchan film in my village was a cinematic treat.

For me, life is starting every day, every year. There's a lot to be done!

I think theatre is an actor's medium, while cinema is a director's medium.

I work at my own pace, and I work really well when I am not running around.

I am probably the best example of an actor who has built his career on flops.

For most actors, it is the script that chooses them and not the other way around.

My career has been a roller coaster ride. And every actor experiences that phase.

I don't like to work. I am not helpless without work. Work is an obsession for me.

I have made a career of flop films. And yet, 90 percent of my films are celebrated.

I don't take anything for granted from any director. I am just a slave of my director.

I am not a star. My face is not the kind that 50,000 people will faint just looking at it.

It is important to move on from the laurels of the past. I can't let success go to my head.

When you have a child, you have to have a hawk eye. You have to be with the child all the time.

Before moving to Delhi at the age of 17, I had only travelled to Patna or Varanasi outside Belwa.

I work for the director, and if audience are happy, I have gotten my award. After that, I have to move on.

Deconstructing your performance is the curse an actor has to live with. That's why I don't watch my films.

If you are working in the Hindi film industry, you cannot escape playing a police guy more than three times.

For me, if awards are not increasing my remuneration or adding value to the offers that I get, they have no meaning.

For me, portraying a character is not about liking or disliking it; it's about meeting a challenge that's thrown at you.

The kind of films and roles I do were never in competition with any star kid. Their aspirations are completely different.

If the director has clarity of thought and vision, you are bound to just go ahead and do what he wants to do. I respect that.

That's realism: a fact that if the audiences don't move out and watch good films at the theatre, people will stop making them.

Actors like me endeavour to look for great roles and portraying them to the best of our ability. At times, it's noticed; at times, it's not.

The 10 years of theatre prepared me not only as an actor but also as a human being. It gave me the habit of reading, watching, and preserving.

I knew I am not star material. I cannot sing or dance, nor am I good for action. I can only perform for which strong, diverse roles are needed.

Films like 'Satyamev Jayate' help in getting some distributors and financiers for films like 'Gali Guleiyan' which give me a lot of satisfaction.

When a common man is discouraged to buy a movie ticket, it becomes a concern for the entire film industry. I think entertainment tax is too steep.

When an artiste says that, after two heavy films, let me do a light one, somewhere they want to balance it out for the audience, not for themselves.

What I am used to is 'Gali Guleiyan,' and people talking about my performances, what new I have tried in terms of my craft or the skill of storytelling.

I have always believed that an actor cannot afford to have a favorite genre. He must excel in every kind of film and fit in with every director's vision.

Struggle teaches you a lot of things, and I am happy that I witnessed a roller coaster ride. The journey has improved me as a person and made me more mature.

I am not Padma Shri Manoj Bajpayee. I am Manoj Bajpayee, an outsider who saw dreams and stayed on the fringes of Mumbai and worked day and night to get work.

I am a known actor who wants to challenge himself in difficult roles. I am not a star but an actor, so I am always looking for strong scripts and strong roles.

Independent films are the ones with the great possibility of keeping you on your toes, challenging your craft and skills, and forcing you to learn something new.

I personally feel that no human is a hero or a villain. All of us have our grey sides, and that is why grey interests me: because it's more human, more life-like.

There has to be some newness in the story or, at least, some aspect of the movie. I get bored if the story is told in the same way all the time. I get bored easily.

I am a mix of both my parents. Like my father, I don't let my dreams die; I'm shy and respect women. However, if I am pushed against the wall, I attack like my mother.

I feel proud when my old films are still talked about and 'Zubeidaa' is one of them. It has been directed by one of the great filmmakers of the country, Shyam Benegal.

I've no problems with cuss words. All of us use them. Those who say they don't are lying. People can tolerate English cuss words but find the Hindi ones a bit revolting.

My father is somebody I admire and would like to be. He is a mild man and a gentleman. Even though he was from a conservative background, he was so open to my doing theatre.

I've accepted loads of criticism and sacrificed so much money to do what I wanted to do - which, in a very small way, contributed to making things easy for my kind of actors.

Even as a child, I was witness to protests against a film or a play or a book. All through my growing years, I found various people or organisations protesting against something.

When I came to industry, theatre persons were regarded as those people who will only ask questions and will be an annoying factor on the set, and there was no preference given to them.

Commercial cinema is necessary to get money, but to get respect, it's necessary to keep coming up with good content and giving a chance to the talent whose craft and skill is immaculate.

Earlier films were meant only for entertainment, but now filmmakers, who are products of these times, do not compromise on real stuff. That is why storytelling has become more convincing.

Multiplexes are being very unkind to small films. They are giving a lot more space and value to the big budget films rather than distributing show timings fairly. But that fight will go on.

If one person from their fraternity is a little above average, they are celebrated as if they are the most gifted individuals. And who is enhancing their cause? It's a section of the media.

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