Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Deepti Naval

It's exciting to step into the shoes of someone you have known and admired.

Personally, I've always felt that I've enjoyed my work. But there have been times where I've have waited for interesting work to come my way.

I am an artiste and truly a free spirit.

I was writing in English since my school days in Amritsar.

'Heartless' is a rare commercial film where I have a substantial role.

I am fearlessly independent. I have the courage to go against the tide and pay a price for my choices.

I loved the cinema of Basu Chatterjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya. Their movies were close to life, yet heart-warming.

I have been selective from the very beginning. And I did get to work with some big names like Basu Chatterjee and Shyam Benegal, among others.

I have lived alone, by myself, for many years, so I feel I am my best company.

I have written much more than I have had published.

I love the solitude of the mountains. I write, take pictures and get inspired by the colors of nature.

Writing my memoir and recalling and recollecting has been wonderfully enriching.

Most of my awards come from foreign festivals!

I played the submissive wife in 'Shakti' because I needed the money. But I'm glad I did.

When I was shooting for 'Ankahee,' I had to visit the women's ward of a mental hospital to study the role.

I was really keen on making a film on Balraj Sahni. But when I approached his son Parikshat for his consent, he told me he had already given the filming rights on his father's life to another producer.

I have never clamored for an award and have quietly done my work over the years and have been as selective as possible.

I do believe that my life, career has been fulfilling, I've had my share of disappointments too, but I have nothing to regret.

Once you discover Ladakh, I have never stopped discovering new things every time I travel there.

I wasn't trained as an actor at all. I had studied painting in America and had no clue about acting when I came back.

I wanted to belong to the films which were trying to say something.

Sai Paranjpye, I, Rakesh Bedi, Ravi Baswani, Saeed Jaffrey... What a team it was!

The idea is not to reinvent myself by venturing into different media because my film career has come to a standstill, but I have the urge to interpret life through different media.

Choosing death is no solution, romancing life is a choice.

I love going off in the wilderness.

I feel envious of people who have been connected to music throughout their lives.

There was a time when Prakash, our daughter Disha, Vinod - who I was seeing then - and I went out to dinner. People thought it was very strange. But I have always felt if you can't work out one equation - the man/woman one - you don't have to lose out on the person altogether.

From the 100 films I have done, I can easily write off about 60.

I think it's in a way my tragedy that people don't see me for the serious roles I have played.

I put my thoughts through my work - be it painting, or simply writing.

It's okay to do a small role in mainstream cinema like 'Aurangzeb' or 'Yaariyan.' But it's films like Rituparno Ghosh's 'Memories Of March' and Avinash Kumar Singh's 'Listen Amaya' that sustain me as an actress.

I would love to play a character of a 50 or 60-year-old.

Being recognized for your body of work in totality is some sort of an encouragement that everyone looks for. To have actually achieved it, feels amazing.

I love writing. It is the closest thing to me after being an actor.

Acting was the first thing that obsessed me when I was 8-9 years old.

I had reached a dead end and that is when I took to trekking which took me to faraway places like Ladakh.

When roles that mattered to me started drying up, I took to the brush and camera to connect with myself and the world.

I have travelled along the entire Tibetan stretch.

Every decade there's a new trend of films. Something else is more liked by the audience, something else is more popular.

When people reach out to me and say they relate to me through my characters, that's also a reward of a kind.

Why can't we digest a woman taking the lead in a love scene?

As I have begun to write my memoirs, I have begun with my childhood; memories which were hidden, suddenly appear before you, finding expression through my writing.

Women no longer look at relationships conventionally, and neither should films.

When I look back at my journey, I have lived a life full of experiences that I am proud of.

I vividly remember my first meeting with Farooque Shaikh. It was in 1975. I had just returned from New York after completing my graduation and was looking for opportunities to begin a career as an actor.

I love music. I like to sing. But I am not a singer. I hum.

Autobiographies give you the picture of the person behind the image on screen, because that's never really you.

As an artist, the work that I have done in my career has always and will always make me happy.

You can't be in the industry without your share of heartbreaks, disappointments, and frustrations also. But as long as you're able to stick to your guts and pick the roles you really want to do, the whole journey becomes worthwhile.

Personally, my favorite Farooq Sheikh performances are 'Bazaar' and 'Garm Hava.'

Because I had other means of expressions, I was lucky that I didn't go under and start becoming all convoluted in my head. That can happen, if you're a serious actor and you're here to really be a part of cinema, and when cinema ignores you, it can be devastating.

A lot of youngsters come and tell me they are inspired by me and my films. When we were doing them, we didn't realize it would leave such an impact.

I was fascinated with Urdu ever since I was a child.

I was very introverted as a child and as an adult. But something inside told me that I needed to express myself, and it would be on the big screen.

My painting and writing has always been parallel. That's why probably where my colleagues have done 300 films, I have done only about a 100, out of which I'd say at least 30-35 films I am even proud of.

I am a seriously independent woman and I want people to know that.

Where is the need to go deep into the character and all that? Concentrate on one thing - looking beautiful in front of the camera at all times! That was one lesson I could never learn... trade the inside for the outside!

I give a lot of credit to my wanderings. Because it just opens up your mind to life itself.

As an artiste, you just continue doing your work and enjoy the process of working... and that's what I've always done.

I have always been fond of painting landscapes.