Over the years people would ask me which co-star have you been a fan of or admired. I have always said Rishi Kapoor and Kamal Haasan. They are my two co-stars from whom I have really learnt a lot. I have been a great fan of both of them.
I learnt a lot about how to negotiate the camera: everyone had told me an actor doesn’t really need to do anything on screen, but I realised that wasn’t true. If you do nothing, it’s boring.
If I am able to pass on what I’ve learnt in my life, that’s really wonderful, especially after losing Dad.
The way I learnt to play was to go out there and enjoy myself. I never thought I’d play professionally.
Salzburg improved me as a player, and I learnt so much there. I got a really tactical education.
Before the heart attack, I used to do a lot of work – what’s needed and what’s not needed. I used to sing songs that leave an impact and those that didn’t. I could never say ‘No.’ Now, I have learnt to say it, though, and believe me, it has not been easy to do so.
I come from a family with many dancers, my aunts learnt dance, so did Kamal Haasan and, as a child I learnt it, too.
Whenever I’ve tried to ingratiate myself to an existing community, I tend to give too much, to become whatever it is they want me to be. It’s something I do automatically – I’ve learnt to immediately adapt.
In organic chemistry, we have learnt to derive from compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen, i.e. from the hydrocarbons, all other types of combinations, such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, etc.
One of the big lessons I have learnt from my life is that things are never as difficult as they seem. When you actively plunge into it, you realize you can easily do it.
I have made a living off the way I look, and I have really learnt to accept myself for being unusual.
I learnt to do bicycle kicks watching Robinho on the television.
The confidence in my ability to be a performer, a steeliness about survival… I learnt all those things from my dad.
I learnt a lot as a child actor. Since I had been before the camera, I knew how it would be to be on a set or on a shoot. That way it was easy for me when I re-entered the industry as the main lead.
I’ve learnt that seasons go very fast, so you’ve got to make the most of your opportunities.
I learnt about the universe. I learnt about human rights and human dignity – this was so new to me.
I admire Turgenev, Camus, Proust and Shakespeare, but I’ve also learnt a lot about writing from composers and artists.
I’ve learnt more in two years at Juventus than in my entire life.
If I failed in acting, I wanted to have a backup, thus I chose architecture. I learnt painting as well.
The biggest lesson that I’ve learnt is that things can change so quickly, never get used to one thing because everything can flip on it’s head.
My mother taught me my first bhajan. My mother, Shobha Nigam, was a very religious woman. From her only I learnt ‘Om Jai Jagdish’ song and used to do puja along with her.
I admire Pat Shortt as a businessman. Such acumen is unusual for an entertainer. He did all his own deals. I learnt a lot from Pat when I was on the road with him for a year.
For ‘Manikarnika’, I’ve learnt horse riding and sword fighting, so I have gone out of my comfort zone.
I lived in Cyprus for six years where I learnt all about flatbreads.
I don’t read books. I like to read newspapers and magazines, but I’ve never learnt to enjoy books or novels.
The demons are innumerable, appear at the most inconvenient times, and create panic and terror. But I have learnt that if I can master the negative forces and harness them to my chariot, then they can work to my advantage.
I’ve always had a burning desire to help people and make a difference in the world. I didn’t know how I could do that in modelling when it can be such a fake world. But my dad told me I could make a difference by being true to myself and teaching people what I’ve learnt about spirituality, health and nutrition.
I’m one of these people who tries to look for the good in people, but I’ve learnt that, actually, no, some people fundamentally just are not nice.
There have been many ups and downs; I made a few mistakes and learnt from them.
I can’t eat before I go onstage because I’ve learnt that burping on stage isn’t a good thing. It’s all about acid reflux.
Something I have learnt from my past trips is, however tired you are, make sure you make the most of the moment and the place you are in. The regret of missing out on things kicks in later on.
Life is uncertain, so I have learnt to enjoy each moment.
To be very honest, I owe it all to TV, it has made me what I am today. I’ve learnt the craft from it.
Long before I was a writer, when I was just a haphazard reader and a dreamer of stories, I learnt about an influential book by Harold Bloom. ‘The Anxiety of Influence’, published in 1973 when I was five years old, is taken up with the terrifying influence of poets on each other.
I think, even in society, people get so caught up in how they look. I think I let that go, and I’ve learnt to not care.
I have learnt to become choosy.
Over the years, I’ve learnt from co-actors, directors, technicians, and even from junior artists.
I love the food of Karnataka and all the side dishes I make at home are recipes I learnt here.
One thing I learnt early on my career is that personal gratification takes second place.
My advice to anyone adapting a novel is that once they’ve read it and learnt to understand it, then they must throw it away and never look at it again!
Until we got married, Radha didn’t utter a word of English and now she won’t speak Hindi. Her Hindi’s pretty good actually – she learnt it while watching Hindi movies.
I’m about growth for myself. So if I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I haven’t learnt from them, then I’ve failed as a human being.
I’ve learnt that through life you just get on with it. You’re going to meet a lot of dishonest people along the line and you say good luck to them. I hope they live in comfort. Then I start sticking more pins in their effigies.
You know, one of the things I’ve learnt since coming out of office is how much easier it is to give the advice than take the decision. I mean, you know, it’s tough.
As you have learnt something of time, value and make a proper use of it. Once past, it knows no return; how necessary, then, that you spend it in improving your mind and fitting it for future happiness and usefulness.
It was only in ‘Khadgam’ that I learnt to project myself and carry off an image of a celebrity, which is very different from what I am in real life.
I have learnt to give my health priority and not to dismiss any health issue.
I learnt about being physically fit, captaincy, and the things that really matter when it comes to being a leader and a batsman.
I grew up where the repercussion of you having an opinion was being ‘cocky,’ or people would be mad at you. And I have finally learnt that it is better for them to be mad at you and disagree than you be so mad at yourself all of the time for not speaking up.
The only thing I learnt in high school is that people are very violent and territorial.
I have learnt the hard way that neither success nor failure last forever.
Four places in the country hold great importance in my life – Punjab, where I was born, Nagpur, where I did my engineering and where my wife is from, Bombay where I work and obviously, Hyderabad, where I learnt the craft of cinema.
What I learnt was a real star never comes on set wearing stardom.
The game shapes you. I played for 20 years at all levels, apart from the Premier League. I had a disaster at Bristol City, where in two years I learnt more about myself, the industry, fans, how you get treated, than I ever learnt in my career.
I think I have learnt more about business from fighting than anything else – from any book, from any, like – fighting is an incredible megastore for doing business.
I have learnt an enormous amount from talking to people on the ground.
Besides acting, I had learnt a lot about entertainment at the Bhartendu Natya Academy, Lucknow and the National School of Drama, Delhi, which I had not been able to put to use. That inspired me to take up direction.
My sister works with animals, so Ive learnt a lot about them through her and have developed a love of native birds. I think just hearing the birds and seeing the birds and our animals, thats something that I really, really miss.
There was a guitar that my uncle owned and never learnt to play. He sold it to my dad, and when I heard ‘Layla’, that was the tune that really grabbed me. I said to my dad, ‘Wait, there’s a guitar, right?’
In my view, Asian countries have learnt the lessons from the past and significantly enhanced their capabilities to fend off risks.
I learnt a blend of different martial arts – not in great depth, obviously – but various moves such as kicks, blocks and punches. It was all quite fun.
As a true-blue Punjabi, I have learnt to tackle disappointments, especially since I have no godfather in the industry.
I believe the reason for my early independence is sport, through which I learnt at an early stage to take care of myself and be disciplined.
What I have learnt is that it is important to pursue your passion more than your legacy; if you have a passion with a purpose, then everything else fits in.
