Randeep Hooda

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

“Approaching people for work has not worked for me. People who came to me with work has worked.”

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

“There is no life without sport and no sport without competition.”

“I knew that I wanted to be an actor; how to go about it was the question. I went to Australia for my studies; from there I told my dad that I also want to do a course in performing arts, but my father refused. So I completed my studies and came back. But I kept poking him, saying that acting is something that I want to do.”

“We had a great dramatic society in school, and that's where I first got exposure both as an actor and director.”

“Seriously I suspected I was a good actor, though I didn't know it during 'Monsoon Wedding.' Now I realize the more I learn, the less I know about acting... and life.”

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

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

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

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

“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.”

“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.”

“As human beings, we are all flawed. And just like there is a good side, there is also a bad side waiting to find its way out.”

“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.”

“I think 'method acting' is a widely abused term.”

“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!”

“I've had my share of struggle. I believe, never take success to your head or failure to your heart.”

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

“A movie is a mass consumption product. I have got no delusions about being niche. I don't want to be niche. Though in the earlier part of my career I was into niche cinema, doing independent films - and I do have a revolutionary bent of mind - but you cannot make a change from outside; you have to be a part of it.”