IRRFAN KHAN

A nation needs to know how to utilise talent.

The sign of a good society is where talent is respected.

Our Bollywood stars who talk of being part of 100 crore films, I think I belong to the 1,000 crore club.

I can't think of a more pathetic situation for an actor than to do a film and not connect to it. And I pray to God that I never face that situation.

It surely gives you a high to be an international actor with quality work.

A film engages you emotionally and intellectually.

I can recite poetry, but I cannot write it.

Hollywood isn't ready for an Indian leading man.

I cannot live anywhere else except India.

I am not ready to fit into the mould of commercial cinema.

I don't want to do romantic roles where I have to lip sync to a song. A role that explores romance on a new level would suit me.

Language does not make one an elite.

We don't have a culture of realistic acting in India.

I've played many characters that have consumed me and owned me.

When you come out of the theatre and you don't even talk about that film or remember it, then it disappoints me.

I'm trying to strike a balance between Bollywood and Hollywood.

Maybe to become famous is to reassure yourself that whatever you're lacking inside, you've fulfilled that.

You cannot reduce the power of story with the tag of money because it's not a share market. So you must know the seriousness of the power of storytelling.

I am lucky that the Western world chooses me to play roles in their movies an television, whatever language it may be.

Parsi theater was known for melodrama.

I want to entertain people, but with some substance.

I will only do a Hollywood film when there is something special offered to me.

For me, acting is becoming naked in front of people, you know? And when you know in the back of your mind somebody is testing you, you cannot really bare yourself. That's a feeling I always have when I'm auditioning.

I've realized that my... let me call it 'destiny' or some force that has pushed me to identify looking for your comfort zone as a kind of limitation. And everybody has a tendency to fall into the comfort zone. I did that in the early stage of my career.

Cinema is changing every week, and multiplex audiences are demanding every week.