Source : India Today
Q: What is you attitude towards money?
A: Money is very important. Everything revolves around it whether you like it or not. For most people money becomes the end in itself. People want money for the sake of having money. For me its a means to an end. I want to work hard and make a lot of money. What happens is that when you start working and making money, slowly and steadily money becomes an end in itself because you tend to want more and more. There should be a point where you draw a line. There has to be a demarcation where your family life gets the importance it deserves, apart from your career and professional life. People get so involved making money, that they forget what they are making them for. I just hope and pray that I should not fall in that kind of trap because it is very easy to do that.
Q: What do you spend on?
A:I spend on food a lot. I love eating. A lot of money also goes to people who come to the gate of my house. Somebody wants to go to his village, somebody somewhere... I know they are making me a fool, but I give them the benefit of doubt. I want to stop doing that because you never know who is honest and who is not. Most of them would be going to some aunty's place and having liquor I see it as if God has given me so much, why shouldnt they also get some.
Q: Do you believe in charity?
A: You know its a very weird thought. I dont think it is charity. I think money is meant for them and not for me.
Q: Is this attitude to do with your upbringing?
A: Dad has come from a modest family. He has travelled when he didnt have money for rickshaws or bus to go to work; he used to hitchhike. He has seen the hard side of life. When I heard his stories, we as children have imbibed the sense of empathy and compassion for people who have less. That's where it comes from. Dad has seen the worst of times.
Q: Any investments?
A: It is very important to invest. But right now I havent looked at any possibilities. I would not like to invest in shares; I dont believe in making big money from them. Investments are very important because you need to set aside some, because tomorrow is uncertain. You may not have what you have today. If you spend all that you earn, then there is a possibility that there will be trouble in the future. Of course there are health factors that we have to prepare for. There might be unforeseen circumstances that might arise in the next five-minute or five years-- so it is very important to invest now.
Q: If you were suddenly given Rs 2 lakh what would you do?
A: I'll give it away. Its too easy money-- I dont need it now. So I will give it to someone who needs it more than me.
Q: Do you like films?
A: I love films. I love the movie business, and every aspect of it. It is very inspiring. You are expressing feelings and dreams. It is so much than just a nine to five job. Of course it has a flip side-- its the toughest life. The kind of work we do here is unbelievable. I have seen dad work in freezing temperatures. Once, we were in Tolong where it was minus 3 degree centigrade and he was suffering from 104 degree centigrade fever. He was working from 5 a.m. to 2 am the next day, every single night. He went without food and water, working like a dog. I could do lot of things like Dad. I could challenge myself but I would never be able to work like him.
So the flip side of the movie business is that if you flop as an actor, you lose all your sense of individuality People dont reject a product; they are rejecting you. That kind of rejection is very hard to get up from. You really feel rejected. But what I enjoy is that it is the survival of the fittest. I enjoy the fact that nothing is for certain. That if you deserve it you will get it. If you work 200 hundred per cent and still haven't got it, maybe it required 300 per cent! You just didnt give enough. Thats my motto that I kept with me since I joined the industry.
Q: Will that you make you happy?
A: Yeah, its a selfish thought in a way. I believe anything that a man does is selfish in a very absurd and abstract way. Giving money away makes me feel good; so I am actually doing it for selfish reason. But its not bad selfishness; it's going to help someone else. It makes me feel good. You have to be a good person to fell good about it.
Q: Any favourite directors?
A: I dont have any favourites, naming a few would be totally unfair.
Actresses?
A: I can think of only my contemporaries like Aishwarya, Kareena, Karishma, Kajol, and Manisha. I am looking forward to working with all of them. Currently I am working with Preity Zinta. She is great person to work with. She has this bubbly persona that lightens up the whole working atmosphere.
Q: How was it working with Amisha Patel?
A: It was great. She comes completely from outside the industry and yet has managed brilliantly. She is definitely born to act. We were very comfortable with each other and ended up being good friends. She adjusted to certain things I wanted to do and vice versa. She never has any airs of coming from a very rich family; she is very down to earth. She has done a good job in Kaho Na Pyar Hai and she is very talented.
Q: Any musical genes?
A: Yes, music plays a big part in my life. I like all kind of music--classical, pop, trance, disco, whatever. I am a big fan of my grand dad's music and his films like Taj Mahal. I am also a big fan of my uncle Rajesh Roshan. Every year on my birthday, he would gift me a musical instrument. Even now if you give me an instrument whether it is a harmonium or guitar, all I need to know is the seven surs-- sa, re, ga, ma-- the moment I know them, I sit down for fifteen minutes, and I can play any tune you want.
Q: Why havent you had formal training in music?
A: I never had the time. I had taken music classes from my grandmother. For acting you need to have very good control over your voice, the way you modulate your voice. I took the classes from the perspective of an actor. Playing music was never a passion; but I have played almost all the instruments.
Q: What makes you happy?
A: Tough question. What would make me happy is to reach a point in life where I can look back with a smile and say its all worth it.
Q: What makes you unhappy?
A: Oh, my god, I could go on and on! I am happy which means a lot.
Q: What motivates you?
A: I dont know where it comes from. I think its growing up with Dad and seeing the kind of person he is and how motivated he is and how
hard he works-- I think that sub-consciously motivates me.
Q: Have you changed over the years because of the kind of adulation you have?
A: Nobody has told me that I have become different. I am not that kind of a person-- I am very transparent. Not the type as made out by the media. Its sad people believe the written word. I have been appreciated to a great degree, sometimes unprecedently. I realize, but I attribute this to my timing, good luck, and my hard work. There is nothing more to it. There is nothing special about me. Anybody could have been in my place and worked as hard and have got the same kind of breaks and would have been as popular.
Q: But isnt what is written about you based on the fact that it's the kind of person you are?
A: But you see again everybody right now is good to me so I become this perfect personality. Only the good points are out-- all my good shots are in my first film. The bad side is not yet exposed so thats why I look unreal. But soon I'll have my other films in which they will see me as something they might not like.