I like doing Marathi films. I am not too keen on Hindi TV shows. It's very tough to get Hindi films, but if a good script and role comes up in future, I will surely pick it up.
I juggle so many hats that it takes something really special to convince me to get back to acting in films or TV serials.
I can't differentiate between mass and class films.
When I came into television, the serials were all women-centric, while the men had to stand around like furniture. I wasn't willing to be a prop in serials. To my good fortune, I got serials where I was a central character.
Apart from my film, I am producing TV serials and plan to make more films, too. Mine is not going to be one-film-a-year production company as such.
Ever since I was a little kid, the only thing that fascinated me, excited me, and engaged me was Hindi films. I didn't know anything beyond Hindi films. I was a 'filmi bachcha.'
The film-watching crowd are mainly youngsters who see fashion on TV, in Hindi films, and in magazines.
I am probably the only actor who came from television serials to films and was able to work in films this long. Of the 75-odd films I've done, in around 40 of them, I've been the hero.
I will not leave my South films for a Hindi film. I want to be sincere to my South film makers and commitments. Only if my dates are not clashing with any of my South films will I do Hindi films.
There's also been a time when I had become the highest paid TV actor of all time. I could have stayed in my comfort zone, making crores with serials. But I always wanted to act in films.
I want to have tried at least once and got out of my comfort zone in Mumbai. I know that Hindi serials are waiting for me there.
I watch a lot of Hindi films. I live in Hyderabad, where 60 per cent of the people speak Hindi.
I remember breaking the news to both my parents that I wanted to be a director, and they both looked very doubtful. They didn't know what a closet Hindi film buff I was. I used to dance to old Hindi films songs on the sly, so my decision to be a part of Hindi cinema was shocking even for my parents.
I haven't even grown up on Hindi films because my Hindi is bad; I am a Parsi and we speak English or Gujarati at home.
Directing a Hindi movie for the first time was easy because Hindi films have been batwing doors for me since 1992.
Most people can differentiate between the guy you see on TV and the real-life guy.