I always wanted to become an actor but I wanted to act in films. But when I saw there are really good opportunities on television, I shifted focus to television.

I would only give one piece of advice which I followed myself. Somewhere down the line don't lose yourself. Just be what you are. Don't try to be a different person.

I have not been following 'Bigg Boss' that much but after being on the show and being on the other side I am sure I would want to watch it and know all about the contestants.

My idea of opening a restaurant was important. The whole point is that I couldn't have been totally dependent on acting for my income... even though I want to remain in the field of entertainment forever.

It's great to have something to fall back upon. I don't come from a business family; so I thought of starting something so that my kids also have some backing in future.

I don't want to act just to run my house.

In an acting career, you need to reach a stage where you can say 'Thank you very much, I can't do this role because I have done this before or I don't like it.'

It's not that we try and work together, people want to see us together. When Gauri gets some serial, it's not that I have to do it.

Kyunki' will never end. The way the story is going I don't see an end. People always complain that it's dragging along but they have to watch it every night!

Luckily, I don't have a sweet tooth nor I eat rice.

I do cardio once in the morning or evening.

You need to look lean. Luckily, I am not on heavier side.

On TV, one hardly gets opportunities to experiment.

The audiences don't connect with the role if you haven't given in your best.

I have never shied away from looking old or playing older roles on TV, since I feel my audiences know the real me, so why not have fun with roles that are not me.

U.P. gives me very positive vibes as an artist.

The people of U.P. are very simple and grounded. They take pleasure in admiring arts and cinema. This is why it is emerging as a big market for filmmakers.

It was a great experience working in 'Nach Baliye.'

I take life as it comes and am a chilled out kind of guy.

Frankly, I just come to the sets, complete my work and go away.

I am a complete workaholic and hate sitting idle.

No one likes to play grandfather, especially when you are a father of two toddlers in real life.

I want to play roles where my absence should be felt. It may not necessarily be a lead role, but my character should be crucial to the show.

I played the lead in 'Kutumb,' my debut serial. But after that if I had been stubborn asking for lead roles, just a few shows would have come my way.

If something interesting comes in terms of lead roles, I am game for it.

When I joined 'Kumkum,' I was excited because the character had grey shades.

I went into 'Bigg Boss' because I wanted to experience what it was like. It was more disorienting than I had bargained for. I began to forget the names of people in my life. It got scary.

When my wife Gauri visited the 'Bigg Boss' house, I can't tell you how overjoyed I was to see her. The level of isolation in that house hit me hard when I saw her there.

Swayamvar' is one of the most anticipated and sought after shows on television and I am elated to be a part of it.

Besides 'Mahabharat,' I am also acting in two serials - 'Karam Apnaa Apnaa' and 'Kyunki.' Three serials at one time mean I won't have time for anything else.

Like they say, boss is always right. In case of marriage, wife is always right.

With cinema it's a different ballgame, you really don't know how the audience will react, so one has to tread carefully.

I worked in 'Ghar Ek Mandir,' 'Kaahin Kissi Roz' and 'Kabhi Sauten Kabhi Saheli,' but it was 'Kutumb' which was the turning point.

I used to work for 14 to 15 hours. But since I have got married, Gauri is very strict that I should get home by 10 P. M.

For films, like my serials, I am looking for roles that help me evolve in the character.

Men do not delve deep into things like women do.

I heckled somebody at the U.S. Open once. And you know, tennis, it's not a good place for that.

I got a horror film, 'The Burning,' and suddenly I was making crazy money, like a thousand a week, so I moved into an apartment on Amsterdam with a guy who was also in 'The Burning,' Jason Alexander.

With 'Broadcast News,' it became a non-issue, and with 'The Piano,' it became a non-issue. Both parts were written for more statuesque women. It was nice to change people's minds about that, because that's neither here nor there.

I was born and raised on a farm, where boys had chores and girls did not, i.e., drive tractors, bale hay, take care of cattle.

I'm not a classically beautiful person, but hopefully it increases my longevity as an actress that my career isn't dependent on my great, great good looks.

In many parts, I start from the outside and then it triggers things within. For 'The Piano,' I went, 'I'm going to learn these piano pieces. I'm going to learn this sign language, and I'm going to do them all day every day, five days a week.' It was a totally physical thing.

I believe that there is good. I believe there is evil. Do I believe that they come from God who is watching us conduct myriad never-ending wars and looks benignly on because there's higher purpose to all of this? I don't think so.

I'm a practicing Catholic. And faith is very, very important to me. It was pounded in my head as a kid, and I hated it. And I sort of lost my way in my 20s and part of my 30s and then found my way back. And I don't know what I'd do without it. It's huge in my life.

Being somebody who's like a theater geek that I am, I can just go right back to Aeschylus and Euripides and Sophocles: they were writing about gods and goddesses versus humans, and how gods could distort, pervert, or help people get what they want.

The self-help section of national bookstore chains in America is one of the largest sections. In a way, it's nothing new, and in another way, very new. People have always searched for answers; that's why we have religion. People have always been seeking some relief from their own mortality.

There's no way that anyone can know the ebb and flow of one's career. You can't know that. You can tell young actors it's going to be very difficult, but there's no way you can understand the difficulties and the rewards through description. You have to cellularly experience it.

It's considered a coup to become a lead on a kind of cutting-edge television series. I mean, that's a plus for your feature film career and for your career in general. There are no walls anymore between the two.

It's great to go to the cinema and have a conversation about something that is almost taboo.

This is one of the reasons I like to act - it's because acting forces you into situations you don't know.