I give respect to everyone and they return the same.

I have worked with acclaimed filmmakers like Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia.

For a star like me to take a dance show and perform in front of the whole world was not a cake walk.

I have big plans for UP as far as its film policy is concerned.

UP has such beautiful locations and such ease of shooting.

If I was not serious about politics, I would not have left behind my successful career to become a politician.

Nationalism is a major issue. If the country is safe, my children will be safe and so will be the future generations. We want a safe and strong nation so that no enemy country can stare us down.

Everybody wants the nation to progress and harmony between all communities. This has happened under the leadership of Modi ji and it will go on.

Since 2007 I have been campaigning for the BJP pan-India.

Yogi Adityanath is my Lord Krishna and I am his Arjuna. Under his leadership I will work to develop Gorakhpur as one of the best cities in north India.

I feel good cinema, be it big or small, with small actor or big actor, it always works.

I only fear myself and my competition is with me. I have always been like this.

Bhojpuri cine fans watch good films. They watch Salman Khan's entertainers and can also watch 'Tanu Weds Manu' type of films too.

I can be a versatile actor.

I had started with Bollywood and then I shifted to Bhojpuri films to create my own identity there.

After doing films like 'Mukkabaaz,' I feel I am finally getting films that I deserve.

It is important for me to be comfortable with the people I am working with.

The Bhojpuri industry in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has made me a star. At the same time, I've also given the Bhojpuri industry a new lease of life. Surely, I need to be respected.

I've been flattered by being called the Amitabh Bachchan of Bhojpuri cinema.

I had a fear of heights but I overcame that while shooting for 'Luck.' I jumped from a height of 2,000 feet for one shot.

You have to join politics to reach out to the masses. As a filmstar I can reach out to 40-50 thousand followers but not 20 lakh people.

It's going to get harder and harder to find guys who will play for ten years in all formats of the game, and whoever does it, good luck to him - he'll be a great batsman or bowler.

How do you pick players? When they are good, and Dhoni is the best limited-overs keeper in the country.

There are a few people who are waiting to see the end of MS Dhoni. But great players like him decide their own future.

When you are watching a cricket match, and a side is 140 for 5 and another 100 plus to get in trying conditions and when you get that without losing a wicket, not only is that entertainment, it shows all the qualities a sportsperson should have to reach the top level.

Aggressive cricket is a form of cricket where you play to win.

We are a country obsessed by records. For us, hundreds, ten thousand runs, and large haul of wickets are more important than the performance of the Indian team.

India has given too much emphasis on players' records than on the actual performance of the team.

It's not worth scoring thousands of runs if your team keeps on losing.

If you have the leader under pressure always go for him. You need to get stuck in. You have to make the game as tough as you can.

As long as we win more than we lose, we are happy.

I have little patience or time for nonsense that's spread around.

Captains have their own personalities and the best ones make players adapt to their thinking and methods.

In a side when you have 15 players there will always be times when there will be opinions that will be different. That is what is needed.

I don't want everyone toeing the same line. You have got to have discussions and someone might then think of a fresh strategy, which has to be encouraged.

Sometimes it might be the junior-most player in the team who may come up with a strategy which we hadn't even thought of and we need to bring that to the table.

The boss is the captain on the cricket field. I am in charge of the coaching staff. That's put into place. My job is to oversee things and see things go all right. Who cares who's the boss? At the end of the day, you win and to hell with it, yaar.

I firmly believe Test series should never be two Test matches, three is enough.

We want Indian cricket to carry on.

Sometimes in the subcontinent you just need five batsmen.

When you play the game, you want your mind clear. You want to be able to focus inwards without a care in the world for anything outside.

My job is to do exactly that with every player - to put him in a frame of mind where he is thinking only about his role and he is thinking about the team he is playing for and, of course, the opposition which we always respect.

The grade contracts of a Test player should be the highest.

What my endeavour is to see a happy Indian team playing cricket.

You have to look at youth in whatever you do, in whatever walk of life at some stage.

I've been doing breathing routines for years. It is massive. It helped me in commentary as well.

Take up a challenge and treat it as an opportunity. Once you do that and succeed, all you want in life is more such opportunities.

Life is much like batting, treating every ball on merit.

If we are confident of what we can do, then all opposition simply has to be treated as a whole.

Opening is about the mindset. You got to respect the new ball.