Unless you enjoy life passionately, you cannot be a good artiste. Practise what you like, be it sports or dancing.
Vijayalakshmi is one artiste whom I admire. There is something divine about her singing.
For the grifter, ripping people off is seldom the point. The grifter is an artiste who invests in the long con.
No artiste wants to be boxed. We thrive on challenging roles, and they can come from anywhere. I consider myself blessed to be recognised as a pan-Indian actor. Yes, it means more hard work, prepping more for the roles, but I’m all for it.
I like the way the Telugu industry treats an artiste, they show a lot of respect.
Things like dressing, postures and gestures are under the artiste’s control. If I’m performing, my safety is primarily my responsibilityso I shouldn’t end up doing anything that would infuriate the audience.
As an artiste, I believe that I am not my own property. I am the property of my fans.
As an artiste, I take up roles where there is scope to perform and that can reach out to the audience.
I would be fooling myself if I thought I would succeed as an entrepreneur. Maybe my base as a theatre artiste gave me the confidence as that’s when you start feeling you can do something on your own.
The simple rule I will follow to sustain in the industry would be to adapt to these ongoing changes and be a versatile artiste.
Reading has made me more open, has improved my understanding, and has made me a better artiste, but it also makes me live in my own bubble. My mom keeps asking me, ‘What do you read in that room the whole day?’ Once I am into a book, I will finish it.
With Priyadarshan, he is extremely strict but lets me do what I want. You have that kind of freedom as an artiste.
In ‘Haraamkhor,’ I have explored a few things which I wouldn’t have been able to do in bigger films. The process of shooting this film was so organic that it enhanced me as an actor and an artiste.
I think, for an artiste, it’s important to be aware of world cinema.
People expect comedy from me but I am not just a stand-up comedian anymore. I act on stage, host ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa’ and also conduct interviews on my show. I have grown as a person and an artiste.
An artiste like me can never be satisfied because it is the dissatisfaction that helps me grow and achieve what I want to.
You have to be gifted to begin with, of course, but what follows is a process that takes a very long time. You train, you listen, you travel, you follow artistes… all of it goes into making you who you are as a performing artiste.
As an artiste, I want to become more people, play more characters.
A mimicry artiste should be spontaneous and he should be able to crack jokes on the spot.
I would be fooling myself if I thought I would succeed as an entrepreneur. Maybe my base as a theatre artiste gave me the confidence as that’s when you start feeling you can do something on your own.
What keeps an artiste going is the adulation of the masses.
Every artiste has a process.
Artistes never make their image. Image is made by the fans and the artiste’s job is to fight that perception.
Bollywood gives you an immense reach. The stars have a huge fan base. The amount spent on promoting a film is incredible. To be part of such productions, in some way or the other, is a blessing for any artiste.
Artistes never make their image. Image is made by the fans and the artiste’s job is to fight that perception.
My mother has learnt classical singing from renowned artiste Druba Ghosh at Sangeet Mahabharati, a music school. During my vacations, my father would sent me to this same school.
I won’t call it pressure but I want to come out with a better movie every time. That kind of enthusiasm is what makes an artiste aim for more.
When I launched my channel, I felt I was ready to do this. It’s not that I had learnt everything – because as an artiste you never stop learning, but I was ready to put out my voice in the world.
If an artiste doesn’t turn up on the sets on time, I will lose my cool.
But as an artiste, I want to challenge myself because that is what art is all about.
Nobody can replace Mika Singh; he is an amazing artiste and a legend.
I personally get into the supervision of every song, from the lyrics to the artiste, I oversee everything before it goes out to the world.
As an artiste, you just continue doing your work and enjoy the process of working… and that’s what I’ve always done.
What is important is satiating my creativity as an artiste.
When you step inside a set and transform into a character, it’s your first brush with that role. It doesn’t matter who you have worked with. Every character will be a first in your life as an artiste.
It’s never easy for me to say goodbye. I get attached to people very quickly, and with ‘Raw Stars,’ my connection is even more special. I’m in love with their music and perhaps their biggest fan. I think every artiste on the show is mind-blowing.
Once you are accepted as a star, as a good artiste, nothing else matters.
It’s not fair to tell an artiste what to be creative about.
I have worked with National award-winning artiste Upendra Limaye in a film and he is a fantastic actor.
It is very important for an artiste to be excited about her work in every phase of her career. If a tiredness seeps into one’s attitude, it will show in the quality of one’s work.
I am an artiste and truly a free spirit.
Every time an artiste goes on stage, he thinks ‘I hope today goes well and I hope I give my best.’ That is important – that little bit of nervousness or tension is what makes you perform better.
For an artiste like me, it was very difficult to focus on studies with a beautiful campus around me.
I have been a good theatre artiste since my school and college days, but when I participated in ‘Cine Stars Ki Khoj,’ I realised that I could touch people’s hearts when I performed.
Playing my music to fans and people enjoying it is what matters; that makes me happy as an artiste. If you start worrying about awards, you will lose your creativity.
I believe that the environment at home has been fairly secular and liberal. And most times, it comes from my mother. Our culture is very strong, but at the same time, she’s a very free-spirited person. She’s an artiste, and that’s the environment I grew up in, where films and music were respected and meditated upon.
Though I was launched as a hero, I was quick to realise that I did not have the capacity to sustain that position. I then reinvented myself intelligently and became a character artiste instead.
I am comfortable doing independent music; it gives me more freedom as an artiste.
Even before I became an artiste, when I barely had the means to support anyone financially, I took care of several destitute women, giving them shelter, food and clothing.
There is nothing more happier for a father than to lose in his son’s hands. I hope my son becomes a better artiste than I am.
Nothing happens overnight for anyone. To become a skilled, accomplished artiste, you need time to work on yourself first.
We have freedom to experiment as an artiste – unlike lead heroes.
As an artiste, I made sure that the character sketch and look of each mother I played was different.
When you step inside a set and transform into a character, it’s your first brush with that role. It doesn’t matter who you have worked with. Every character will be a first in your life as an artiste.
Janhvi is the most spontaneous artiste and a very respectful person.
What keeps an artiste going is the adulation of the masses.
What is important is satiating my creativity as an artiste.
Nobody can replace Mika Singh; he is an amazing artiste and a legend.
For the theatre one needs long arms; it is better to have them too long than too short. An artiste with short arms can never, never make a fine gesture.
I don’t think I am a big artiste but the new ones do get intimidated by my presence.
I love that I am being offered films but I just couldn’t do the ‘cotton sari-strong woman’ role again. As an artiste, there is nothing more I can offer there.
Please don’t compare me with Taher Shah. He is a joker, while I am an artiste – I am a model and an actress. Taher Shah comes, makes people laugh, and goes away. I work with a lot of honesty.
In India, however good your western vocals are, you have to have that Indianess in your singing if you want to become a mainstream artiste.
It’s hectic at times, but this is what any artiste wants: a hectic life with lot of travelling, performances, lots of love from fans, the opportunity to compose songs back-to-back, and a chance to share the stage with maestros like Zakir Hussain.
I am a freelance artiste.
Working with a good artiste is always a pleasure. If you get a reaction from your co-star, then you get the space to perform well.
A dubbing artiste does a lot of repair work for an artiste who doesn’t naturally speak the language they are acting in.
If my stories make people uncomfortable, because it questions your set ideas and value systems that are convenient for a group of people or ideas that promote patriarchy and religious fanaticism, then my job as an artiste and a writer is done. The more you will cry foul, the louder my characters will speak.
