Pankaj Kapur

It wasn't one film that changed my life, but a series of decisions that brought out the best in me.

I feel that God has been amazingly kind to me. How many actors get to stay for 30 years and play the kind of roles that I have done?

I am human and get insecure because I am a middle class man and I need to feed my family and acting is the only job I know.

Many people from the industry come up to me and say 'We don't see you onscreen much.' But where are the scripts? Do you think I am not sitting in my office and waiting for something like 'Matru' to happen to me? I would love to do four such films in a year.

My job is that of an actor. As long as I get to act, get some interesting parts to play, get to be a part of interesting stories, I would certainly want to do it.

I do a project and then I forget about it because the release of whatever work you have done is not in your hand.

As an actor, I have always felt, everything is available in the script. If there is anything you feel the script lacks, you can have a discussion with the director and point out those.

My son has been wiser than me in terms of his career graph. He saw to it that he became a star first and start to get all the roles that he wanted to do.

What's most fortunate is that once he turned 18, Shahid assisted me for a while, so we got to spend a lot of time with each other.

For a father, to separate from his son is not easy.

We have ambitions, we go on with our lives. We get married and have families. But I was interested to know what happens to those girls who become mothers and grandmothers. They sacrificed their self at a time when they were young and healthy.

My friend Akshay Upadhyay and I used to write poetry and read out to each other.

I am very lazy.

When an actor gets an opportunity to do things, only then can he prove his mettle.

In the 80s, parallel cinema gained momentum. So, I got back to films and won National awards for Maqbool' and other films.

Different kind of cinema is being created, people are coming up with different kind of scripts, they are able to come up with scripts that work with the audiences and also scripts which will have something to say to the audience, which is a heart-warming thing.

I have learnt to become patient as an actor.

I don't want to do films where I'm just there with nothing much to do.

As long as the character is interesting and I have something to do as an actor, there is no reason to turn it down.

Seventy years on, the wound of Partition is still raw. There have been some beautiful attempts like Garam Hava,' but it's not easy to make a film without hurting some sentiments.

Drama should be taught in schools to have more artistic people.

There are millions of people in the world, I have only played a few of them.

There's no set rule, but when you look at the script, you start thinking about this person and how to create this human being on screen. You dig deeper into a script.

When you ask me why I do one film a year, it is not my fault. I've chosen what I liked from whatever work came my way.

'Mausam' is about seasons of love and not exactly about the weather.

We've not given any attention to the people in their 50s and 60s, who need attention, education and engagement, in terms of the society and in terms of their identity as human beings.

I did drama school in Delhi. I am glad I studied in a school where cultural activities were significant.

My children can do what they want to do.

I am not a person of schedule when it comes to writing.

There have been actors who have been extremely successful by doing just about everything that came their way. But I do what I like doing and give it a certain time.

I've been saying yes to almost every interesting script that comes my way.

I feel you need to treat children as equals instead of giving them a complex - you are young, you are small, you don't know.'

Cinema which is well-made, for any kind of audience, is worthy of being watched by just about anybody who would like to watch a good story being told.

I don't think that a film that has children in it necessarily needs to be a children's film.

I have loved playing every character that I essayed.

Creativity should be balanced with commercial interests.

I am a father who never pushes or forces his children into anything.

The least anyone can do is pay attention to their parents and people who are elder to them.

As an actor, my desire was always to be different, there was a desire to associate yourself with projects that bring about the contemporary situation.

Our cinema is coming of age, and people are realizing we need to tell different stories differently and in fresh manner and not just do formula stuff and serve it to the audience.

Women do have better roles to play, more characters are being written. For instance, Surpriya Pathak's character in 'Ram Leela' or Neena Gupta's part in 'Badhaai Ho'.'

Living my early years in Ludhiana, the Halwara base of the Indian Air Force was very close to our house. I would see jets cruise over my head.

As far as I am concerned the best thing that any person can have, and which I think my son has, is commitment to work and also the attitude towards it.

I wanted to understand the whole medium and that is when I decided to do television. Once I thought that, I was confident about making a film.

Back in the 1990s, I had an opportunity to make a film. But I realized that it is better for me to go in stages so I could explore myself as an actor and in the process I started writing scripts.

In theatre there is a certain discipline that you have to follow, and you have to be experienced to be performing in front of a live audience. It is satisfying to me.

I don't have any single character that is my favorite because I would like to be known for the sum total of my work and not for an individual character that I might have played.

I enjoy playing different kind of people.

We have had examples in our industry of people working for 30-40 years because of their ability to act. Your looks leave you after a point, you don't look the same way you did when you were in your 20s or 30s. After that you have only your ability to show.

School days were very special to me as I never found the time to complete my graduation.