Quotes from Neeraj Kabi

I never improvise. I create the character and transform into it.

The whole process of acting is transformation. What is your power, quality and level of transformation, define you as an actor.

I was waiting for a good show on Amazon and 'Paatal Lok' had all of it - good script, story, and cast. It joined all the dots beautifully.

Well, to tell you honestly, I am still waiting for much better roles. And I am slightly surprised that despite seeing the quality and hard work, the Hindi film industry is still not creating projects that I can be a part of.

When you are a journalist, you have a big responsibility towards your audience and it is important to respect that responsibility.

But I'm very keen to work with directors such as Imtiaz Ali, Zoya Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey, Anurag Kashyap and Abhishek Kapoor.

I only like playing people who are completely different from me. I try to mould myself into that character.

Actually, I came to Mumbai from Jamshedpur in 1991 to become an actor. I began searching for work and I was all alone and absolutely empty-handed, no craft and nobody that I knew.

I don't discuss my journey in the Hindi film industry since it is something personal to me.

In 'Talvar', my character loses his daughter and it was quite an intense role. I had to concentrate and I would request all the unit members to stay silent before the take.

Avenues opened right after I did 'Ship of Thesus' but doing films where there is big money involved or has big stars involved is not the reason I came to Mumbai.

I have always stayed away from TV. It never made sense to me.

In all these years of doing theatre, I've been a very physical performer - physically demonstrative, yet sticking to the realism of the piece.

I've always looked towards mainstream. Many offers have come but they've been the wrong kind of offers. They are not the right business decisions for me to take.

You have so many offers coming to you so as an actor it is all about finding which project to invest your energy in.

In most of our love stories the people are quite young in age. 'Once Again' is a love story about two mature people looking for companionship.

If I get a call from Imtiaz Ali or Zoya Akhtar to star in their films, I won't think twice.

I do not like to label the characters I am doing or even myself as a particular type of actor. I try to do different kind of roles which are not the same 'hero' or 'villain' kind.

Empathy is much bigger than sympathy. When the character is empathised with, that means you have succeeded as an actor. So even if it's a villain, the audiences don't hate you... they understand why you have turned into a villain.

Yes, I play a cop in Amit Kumar's 'Monsoon Shootout' where Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the villain.

I feel great when people like my work, but after a day or two, I don't keep that in my head. I go back to working and training. I don't rest on my laurels.