Vishwajeet Pradhan

Getting into acting was a challenge for me as I belonged to a political family.

My wife and I don't believe in exchanging gifts. A happy and healthy life together is our gift to each other.

Fortunately, my wife shares the same values and is extremely supportive.

I am choosy for the kind of show I will take up.

After two years in TV, I realized that I need a break from 9 to 5 routine work. I just wanted to explore and get back to movies for a while.

But I'll always be glad for knowing a person like Shah Rukh. He is one man who hasn't changed at all.

I never got a lead role and I make no bones about it.

Being from a small town my parents wanted me to become an IAS officer but being an actor I lived the life of everyone. I've been a cop, a hardliner politician, a magician, a watchman, a don, a smuggler, an officer all in one life!

After my schooling in Meerut, I was sent to Allahabad for further studies to become an IAS officer. It was there that I got the freedom to do whatever I wanted to, and it was in Allahabad that I first did theatre.

I'm glad my parents found a perfect match for me in Sonalika. The secret to our successful marriage is that we give each other respect and space. We are friends and not just spouses.

Waxing is a very painful exercise and I don't know how women do it so often.

Yes, it is funny that most of the roles that I have played so far have been negative. I have been typecast as a villain.

I'm confident about my stint with politics. But I won't leave acting, one, because it brings me my daily bread, and second, I realized that whatever little extra recognition I have today, it's thanks to my acting career.

Because you are seen on the screen, whether big or small, the people in remote places are in complete awe of you.

My father was an MLA and I've grown up knowing the kind of stuff that goes behind the working of a party and the role of the party people, and I used to think that one day I too would be a part of it. But when acting happened, politics took a backseat in my mind and I concentrated more into building my acting career.

I may have given my best performance but what if the role gets edited?

I remember when I was in Allahabad University, Amitabh Bachchan had come to campaign in Allahabad. I realized then the sort of expectations people had from him.

I want a fit body and not a fantastic muscular body.

When I was shooting for the film 'No Problem,' there was a fire on the sets and I had some burn injuries in my leg.

I feel that the movie in which I've played a cop or army man have been bigger hits. That's why people remember me more as a cop or army person. I've even noticed that a lot of films in which I've played a variety of wonderful roles haven't done well.

A police officer asked me why I agreed to play a Pakistani in my films. I told him that someone has to do different, na. If everyone will become Indian army officer then how the story will proceed?

It's not that I was not getting offers but I don't want to do petty and insignificant roles again and again.

I have only one hobby and that is acting. It's my passion, my hobby, so I don't need a break to pursue my hobby.

I have absolutely no problem on doing a negative character. If that matches up to my acting caliber, I will definitely do that.

I sometimes catch up 'Simi Selects India's Most Desirable.' Sometimes I watch reality dance shows, too. And yes, the strangest of all is that I watch 'Tom and Jerry' on Cartoon Network with my son.

It will sound quite weird but I actually watch TLC as I love to travel. It's like sitting in your drawing room and traveling to a new world.

The simple, sweet films without the star power often manage to tell a better story.

I do a mix of exercises - cardio, gym, yoga.

I was once in Delhi and one guy looked at me and shouted, 'kutiya, kutiya, kutiya' - it is a dialogue from my film 'Kasoor.' The guy couldn't recall anything else apart from this. It was funny but interesting - it shows the kind of impact my character has made on the audience.

Because of television, people are now more exposed about actors - one gets to know about actor's personal life. People know that we are just playing characters.

It is an irony that the era of crafty villains such as Gabbar Singh or Mogambo has gone away.

Once I had gone for a shoot at a remote Fiji island in the middle of Pacific Ocean and I was thoroughly bowled over the popularity of this character there! I've also got positive feedback from U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Pakistan and Dubai for my performance as Brahmanad.

I got 'slotted' and started getting offers similar to the role I had in 'Maryada.'

I played a eunuch in 'Shabnam Mausi' with Ashutosh Rana and no one even knew when the film released.

I feel when a new comer acts in his first film, he starts feeling top of world and nature changes due to the stardom. And then downfall starts to happen.

My father was into politics. After his death things got slow. We were meeting different parties and everywhere I heard people grumbling and cursing politics and the state of the nation. I made an effort and I am trying to fulfill my social responsibility.

As an actor I want more and more challenges, I want to reinvent myself.

Explaining to my children, especially my daughter, that I will be dressed as a woman, and will be playing a eunuch was a tough task.

After a certain point of time, life's practicality hits you. So I got into theatre, did stage plays and worked along with Naseeruddin Shah and Nana Patekar, people who are committed to the craft part.

Wearing the sari, adhering to the parda system and all those things are really taxing. After wearing a woman's attire, I came to understand what they go through daily.

For a man it's not easy to play a woman onscreen. You have to wax your body. You dress up a lot to be able to do justice to the portrayal.

Doing films and TV together becomes difficult to manage when you have too many things in your hand.

It has happened with me that I get a role of a cop for a film. Few directors typecast you if you do that particular role well. But, it is the actor who has to decide whether he fits in that role or not.

There was a time when villains were stylized as very fashionable with gelled hair, girls in arms and cigar in mouth but now films have come closer to the reality. Realism has entered our industry.

I have always seen Rajesh Khanna coming on the sets with his secretary only and no one from his family.

I needed a break from the breakneck speed of daily soaps.

I avoid oily food. I am a vegetarian and it has helped me a lot.

I got plastic surgery done on my face because my skin burnt during the shooting of one of my films.

When I met Feroz Khan, he offered me a role of a villain in 'Yalgaar.' He also asked me to build my physique. As for villains action is a must, so I joined a gym.

Emptiness will always cripple me.