Quotes from Arjun Rampal

The period from 2001 to 2005 was really tough. My films were not working even though there was an acceptance of a model. I was depressed but did not cry. I cry when I am happy.

I do want my films to have the required entertainment quotient, but I'd prefer doing films where you don't have to leave your brains behind.

Your calves, biceps and neck should always be the same size in inches. Mine are 16 inches - anything bigger or smaller and you know you're going wrong! Most men ignore working out the legs and glutes, not realising that they are the pillars of our core.

Like everyone else, I have my quirks. For one, I have to own only black cars and the registration has to have eights. It's not something I can explain, it's just there. Another obsession I have is smell. I have to smell good all the time.

Almost 70 per cent of your fitness battle is won the day you realise what your body needs and when. I've made my own diets, and I decide for myself what works for me.

I think it is easier for thinner people to build on a frame once you get lean muscle. I get bored lifting weights at the gym, and it isn't enough as your body becomes stiff. So I train in different ways such as core training, cardio with weights, playing sports such as tennis, cycling, swimming and running 10 km once a week.

Even though I always knew I had a good nose for fragrances, the process of creating my own, 'Alive,' turned out to be a great learning experience for me. And the name explains my reason behind it. Smelling good makes you feel alive.

I've been lucky to get some path-breaking films, which proved to be the turning point in my career. Be it 'Rock on!' 'The Last Lear' or 'Raajneeti,' directors started working in a different way.

At times, I do Tabata, a high-intensity Japanese training regimen, in which I must do 20 seconds of a specific body part with 10 seconds of rest. This must be done eight times within four minutes. Your heart rate shoots through the roof, but you burn a lot of fat.

Age doesn't mean anything. Its all in your head. Men get sexier with age. They also get wiser and get experienced.

The idea is to keep reinventing yourself. Once you attain a certain status as an actor, your fans start expecting from you and you should be able to fulfill them. That's why I try to choose as many different kind of roles as I can so that my fans are not disappointed with me. It would also get boring for me as an actor to keep repeating myself.

I think it is a combination of looks, aura, success, the energies that one gives out, the person you are and the person you feel like that makes you 'desirable.' When the outside world sees you as a man who is responsible for himself and his family, as a man who is fit and sensitive, it kind of ups your desirability.

I find 12 P.M. as the best time to work out. During training, I do two body parts a day: chest-back, back-triceps or chest-biceps so that my body doesn't get used to a pattern.

I am blessed with a good metabolism, and as long as I work out, carbs don't add to my weight. If I need a leaner, meaner look for a film, I go off carbs for a bit.

I used to be an athlete and even ran the 400 metre stretch for Tamil Nadu. I have always been active.

The demarcation between an art house film and an entertainer has blurred, only because a larger section of the audience has accepted such realistic films.

Many times an actor is stuck for the lack of choices. The same happened with me when I started my career. That was the time when mainly romantic films were being made, and that is what I was offered all the time.

When I was in New York, a lot of my friends were studying filmmaking and would bring their scripts to me, as I was a good script doctor. I would read their scripts and make corrections to them for $20 per script and was fascinated by films.

Born in Jabalpur, I was brought up in Deolali, where my father ran a small business of making fire extinguishers.