I went through a low phase for two years when I had a string of flops. At that time, I even felt that I was in the wrong profession and that I should leave acting. But thankfully, I utilised that time to introspect and went on a self-exploration trip. I did theatre in between, and it helped grow the fire within me.

There is a lot of silence in me, and I feel that silence is often better than spoken words.

From being a waiter, to a door-to-door salesman, to a car-washer, to a delivery boy - I have done it all.

It is important to keep the filmmakers interested in you so they can offer you everything and anything. We actors are not given work on the basis of audience poll; the filmmaker will cast you after they see and like your work. It is essential to do different kind of films and not get typecast.

I wouldn't mind going half naked on stage, if that is what my role demands.

I have made a promise to myself that I will have no limitations as an actor. I have realised I have to pay attention to the commercials or the business aspect of cinema, but deep inside, I am purely an artiste.

I find solace in animals. I have got a stray dog at home called Candy. I picked it up while I was waiting at the airport one day. I always wanted to have a 'macho' dog but got this sweet little thing instead.

Theatre gives you wings as an actor.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed playing crime branch officer Gautam Savant, it drained a lot out of me, too. It shook my faith in myself, as I explored my hidden side and wondered if I was just acting or using the character as an excuse to vent my mean side.

During my theatre days, I was more comfortable doing comedy. It's such an irony. I have always played a buffoon on stage, and yet I don't have any comic role to my credit.

My mom often tells me to get married, but she gets it now that I don't want to. Like any other mom, she is worried, but she also understands the demands of my profession. I am blessed to have a family like this.

You can't say the public likes generic characters. Give others a chance, go for a more rooted and honest characterisation, take some risk, and then let the public choose.

Love can never make you weak, and love is not restricted to opposite sex. I love my parents, I love my animals, and I love my profession.

Over the years, I have realized that there's more to a film's fate than just good acting and a solid script. It needs to be marketed well. It's the package that sells - the songs, action, actors, etc.

I think it would be pompous to say I am an underrated actor. I don't think it is for me to think and decide; it is for people to decide. But I am glad I am underrated than being overrated - that is something I would find hard to digest.

Success is a high, but the way up is hard, and you have to give your all.

You don't run from the bad things in life; learn from them, because your worst is what will lead you to your best.

You have to make enough noise to be cast in the right films, and the best way to make that noise is to do lots of good work.

It's too bad I'm not a flirt. When I'm on the sets, I'm too busy working on my scenes to look at the ladies.

A few years ago, when I had no work and started believing that films weren't a viable career, I thought of finding another job. I started training and riding horses and got consumed by that. It was a boon in disguise.

I wouldn't mind doing a film revolving around horses, but I wouldn't dilute my equity just sitting on one.

When we are younger, we say a lot of things without often believing in them. The thoughts within you are much more important, and so often, one can't completely describe what one feels. As we grow older, we realize that there is more to love than what is expressed in the conventional sense of the terms.

Theatre is great, but we don't live in an idealistic world, and we have to pay our bills.

I find theatre easier than films, because it gives you an environment of a dark hall, the audience concentrating with you... whereas, film sets are not conducive to long rehearsals, and it is difficult to pick up the emotions amidst all that is going on around you.

I don't like people waiting on me. I feel it is an unnecessary expense.

A Bollywood hero, for most people, has been a Raj, a Rahul or a Prem... it's now a part of the psyche.

I think I'm the only professional horse rider from the movie industry. Strangely, I've seen no men from the industry at equestrian events. Though I've seen some ladies like Diya Mirza and Lara Dutta at the race course. Women, by the way, make superior horse riders.

I believe in the institution of marriage; Other than cinema, it's the only way to be immortalised!

Every actor's deepest desire is to reach a huge audience. So, I don't look down upon commercial cinema... there's a beauty in it that you understand sooner or later.

I don't play the role of a villain, really, but I like playing anti-hero kind of roles. I like characters where there's conflict, drama, and more personal investment than just being heroes.

In all of us, there is a struggle between the good and the bad. It makes it more palpable and real to play such people as an actor.

I didn't allow failure to break my heart. So I wouldn't allow success to bloat my head.

I overhaul myself for my roles. Sooner or later, I will get my due.

We had a great dramatics department in school, so I did a lot of plays and theatre there. Later, when I was the captain of our student's ward, I figured out that if you find something you really love to do, you don't have to work for the rest of your life! You can just have fun and still excel in it because you enjoy what you do.

For very long, I wasn't able to find a place for myself in movies. After my initial success, I didn't know how to capitalise on it.

I never think about what others are doing. I do a film for myself, not others.

I have this soft spot for have-nots. So, I was really inclined to portray their pain and pathos in 'Highway.'

I would really love to work with Clint Eastwood.

I used to run away from school to my village. But later, I went to the U.S. for studies and lost touch.

I would often take this bus and go to a nearby village where I had hordes of animal friends. I was hardly around four or five years old then. The conductor was so used to seeing me hop on to the bus and get down at the same place, that he never asked any questions. The strangest part is, he never asked for a ticket either!

Honestly, I find writing to be a very lonely job.

I feel very meditative when I ride. A horse does not know whether my movie is a hit or a flop or what is happening in my relationship.

You can't get angry with a horse. They will get angry and frisky with you.

Horses are in our DNA. We used them way before cars for commuting.

There is a sense of purity in theatre which always attracts me. Deep down, I feel I am more of an artist than a commodity, which Bollywood turns you into. I want to strike a balance.

I'm going to be acting all my life. But, while doing that, I will try to avoid the trappings of fame.

I'm going to start a polo team with my friend, and we're trying to collect as many horses as we can. You have to find time for things you love.

I would like to be known as one of the best actors in the world because that is something that I would have earned. And being sexiest would come from my genes... it is something I was born with and not earned it for myself.

Trust is not about what you can or cannot do in the name of love but who you are and what you choose to reveal as things progress and evolve.

I think the biggest thing - when it comes to injuries and stuff, travel has a big part in that, because after a match, guys hit the road, and they're in a sitting position. They're not able to ice up or do whatever they have to do therapy-wise.