103 Quotes by Naseeruddin Shah

I have been grappling for years with the question of whether experiencing difficulty dealing with real life is what drives people to become actors.

Anyway, academic rock-bottom was hit when in the final exams of Class 9 I fared abysmally and actually gave in my trigonometry paper empty, with an inscription that I hoped would amuse the examiner: ‘If you know the answers, why ask me? And if you don’t, how do you expect me to?

The marvellous Stellan Skarsgard with whom I once acted, in an utterly unmemorable film, had remarked to me at the time, ‘Isn’t being an actor wonderful? You are paid to stay a child.

I am from a place called Sardhana, which is near Meerut.

My dream is to produce a generation of actors who realise what the function of an actor in a movie is supposed to be.

When my brother came home from NDA (National Defence Academy), I felt, 'Wow, I should like to wear that uniform.' But I didn't want to join the army.

Undeniable though it is that many Indian Muslims misguidedly consider Pakistan their haven, the immeasurably greater number who take intense pride in being Indian and who connect deeply with the country are hurt and angered at our patriotism being under scrutiny.

I think our cinema has stayed in its adolescent stage largely because of our obsession with and our dependence upon stars to make our movies. The stars, being only too human, realise that this is the case, and so they milk it for whatever it's worth, and who can blame them?

Granted, patriotism is not a tonic that can be forced down people's throats.