Quotes from Farhan Akhtar

'Dil Chahta Hai' was too raw. We only thought about the film. We never thought where the film was going to go. We wanted to make a film on our own terms.

I realised that I enjoyed direction while making 'DCH.' The process of putting a film together and working with the cast and crew felt good.

I wish I'd got my driving license at 18, not 22. I also wish I had graduated earlier, even though I didn't finish college.

When I watched Guru Dutt's films, they just blew my mind.

I think all kids are rebellious. It's a part of growing up.

I was a complete vagabond till the age of 20, when I got my first job as an assistant director with Pankaj Parashar.

There was a phase when I would just loaf around, doing nothing. It had put my mom under a lot of stress. I knew her stress stemmed from her love for me, yet I never paid attention to her feelings. When it finally hit me that my idleness was taking a toll on her, I was genuinely sad and depressed.

I used to lie a lot as a child, which I now regret. I think it is much easier just to tell the truth.

Apart from the highs and lows of when your film releases, there's a strange, addictive quality that making a film has because of all that drama. There's so much that goes on, and we miss it when it's over.

I take a more holistic approach to fitness than trying to achieve a certain body to display.

It's amazing how much the human mind and body can do and achieve.

I think if you believe in an idea, then you should put it out there and be as original to the thought as possible without worrying about the risk.

I love ice cream and gulab jamuns.

Nobody is immune to feeling depressed.

As an actor, you buy into someone else's dream and make it your own, and you don't lose sight of that.

I am not trained to be a director or an actor. I have learnt everything by watching other people work and studying their work.

Cinema, I always felt, is a very powerful mass medium to translate ideas in an engaging way.

If you are a doctor or farmer, be sincere about your profession. If you can do what you do honestly, you will end up serving your country.

My sister Zoya and I have been exposed to the best of cinema of all kinds - Chinese, Japanese, Italian, etc.

I have been a fan of movies from a very young age, and somehow, the magic of that - every single time I hear something or read something that could be made into a wonderful film or something somebody is asking me to be a part of - that connects. It just makes me feel like I'm going to be part of something magical again.

A break-up between couples is traumatic for everyone.

I love travelling, especially to Goa.

The power with which you can create a character is tremendous and probably more satisfying than actually being the person.

Every time I look into the mirror, I want to see a man whose mother, sister, wife and daughter are proud to call their own.