Quotes from Pankaj Kapur

Cinema which is well-made, for any kind of audience, is worthy of being watched by just about anybody who would like to watch a good story being told.

Seventy years on, the wound of Partition is still raw. There have been some beautiful attempts like Garam Hava,' but it's not easy to make a film without hurting some sentiments.

There were certain things that I tried to do on 'Karamchand.' Initially, they were hated, but eventually everyone loved the characterization.

My first love and my first instinct are acting.

From the initial days of my career I have always given importance to two things. One is to heed to directors instructions and the other is to have faith on my action director.

I know that people in Dubai are particularly well read, educated and intelligent and that the audience in front of me will come looking forward to an evening that is different from watching a film. That is the kind of crowd that goes to a theatre or a play and I am hoping to see many of them in Dubai.

'Jersey' is a very strong story and is driven by emotions.

Living my early years in Ludhiana, the Halwara base of the Indian Air Force was very close to our house. I would see jets cruise over my head.

Children should be kept as normal as possible. At a very young age, they are not even aware of the happenings around them. You need to do whatever you can to grow them normally.

Every actor must go through the process of learning and not just be in a hurry to become famous. They should learn to live in small amounts and not to try and copy others.

I think younger generation is much smarter than us. I am happy and proud of my kids.

The desire to hear a story, and a story well told, triumphs over Internet, film and television sometimes.

As an actor, I have always felt, everything is available in the script. If there is anything you feel the script lacks, you can have a discussion with the director and point out those.

I am human and get insecure because I am a middle class man and I need to feed my family and acting is the only job I know.

There are millions of people in the world, I have only played a few of them.

We have ambitions, we go on with our lives. We get married and have families. But I was interested to know what happens to those girls who become mothers and grandmothers. They sacrificed their self at a time when they were young and healthy.

When I was doing theatre in Mumbai, actors won't come because they had television. For many years, I did theatre religiously and in Mumbai, I saw people disrespecting it and it hurt me very badly.

My friend Akshay Upadhyay and I used to write poetry and read out to each other.

So, 50 films, 3 National Awards, 74 plays and serials later, here I am playing Professor Das in JL50,' who understands time travel. When in reality, I'm not tech savvy at all.

Back in the 1990s, I had an opportunity to make a film. But I realized that it is better for me to go in stages so I could explore myself as an actor and in the process I started writing scripts.

My real uncle was a pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF). I was very enamored with him because he had a great personality. He used to look dashing in his uniform.

In India, writers are underpaid. Universities should start new courses to create more opportunities for them.

As long as the character is interesting and I have something to do as an actor, there is no reason to turn it down.

It's a bit unusual that I'm the novelist and the actor who is reading out his own material.