Top 44 Naseeruddin Shah Quotes

I have had enough of an interesting life to not embellish it in any way.

To me, the most important elements in a theatre are the actors and the texts.

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

I never go to film festivals. I am allergic to them.

Given a choice, I prefer directing a play to a film.

Humans are the only ones who are the custodians of other people’s morals.

I’m not a political person; I’m not an activist. I’m not a guy with strong beliefs about anything. I have nothing to say to the world.

An actor can never voice his opinion through films. All an actor does is convey what the director and writer want to say. You are a mouthpiece of their ideas. Your ideas reflect only in your choice of movies.

Learning a craft is up to you, whether you are doing theatre or movies.

Shakespeare is a seminal story-teller. I don’t think he imagined he was writing classics or that he was writing great poetry. I don’t think he dreamt his work would be staged 400 years after he died.

I had many doubts while writing my autobiography. I wasn’t sure if anyone would be interested to read about my life.

During the shooting of ‘Manthan,’ I lived in the hut, learnt to make cow dung cakes and milk a buffalo. I would carry the buckets and serve the milk to the unit to get the physicality of the character.

I don’t take reviews seriously. I don’t even read them. Who is this person blasting forth his opinion? What’s his worth, and how different is he from any man on the street?

As an actor, you have got to learn your job as thoroughly as you can. If you know your job, then there’s nothing that can stop you. Because the bottom line is that only good actors will get work.

I was never turned down because I was a Muslim. I was turned down because I was not right for the part.

There’s so much hocus-pocus about acting styles; there’s too much mysticism attached to it. But it’s a craft like any other – it’s something you have to work hard at.

One would marvel on the screen the way Shammi Kapoor walked, Dilip Kumar cried, or seeing Dev Anand’s style. And then, one day, you are in the same space with them. It’s very unreal.

‘Bombay Boys’ is among my favourite movies and my favourite performance of myself.

A family business in cinema is not necessarily creative. It is generally about prolonging your family fortune.

People should know what the India of 2018 was like. They shouldn’t end up seeing only Salman Khan films 200 years later. India is not like that.

I do what work I get. I’m disappointed half the time.

A lot of scripts are written with an eye on what will be popular or what will titillate or what this actor can do well. I don’t think those kinds of scripts ever work.

I have gone into every project with the same enthusiasm and the same hope, but some have worked out, and some haven’t.

I was lucky to land up in Mumbai when serious cinema was just beginning to flower.

Actors have to learn that they are as important to a movie as the camera is, as important as the sound is, and less important than the script is.

I had decided never to dye my hair because by doing that, it doesn’t make a man look young. In fact, I feel the wrinkles on a man’s face become more prominent when you dye your hair.

Playing the good guy is boring. I love twisted, flawed characters.

Sometimes, more money is spent on promotion of a film than the making of it. I don’t understand that logic. The movie should run on its merit.

Acting is no longer a taboo. The stigma has gone because people have realised that it’s a perfectly valid career choice.

I’m not trying to prove myself a great filmmaker. I don’t know much about filmmaking anyway. I’m trying my hand at it to see if I’m any good.

There was a time when I only wanted to show off, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve realised that acting isn’t an end in itself. You act to communicate something, and if you have to use an accent or become thin or fat, that’s part of your job.

I am the king of old school romance.

Acting is fun, but directing is very stressful.

I have the highest regard for the police forces.

My dad occupied a government position, deputy collector, in a city called Nainital, so we had access to the cinemas at any time. I saw my first movies when I was very young.

The stuff that is done on Broadway is hardly theatre. It is part magic show, part rock concert, and part conjuring things.

I don’t think anybody becomes an actor to serve theatre or to serve art anywhere. We all become actors because we are insecure people who want to be looked at. That was the reason I became an actor.

I feel anxious for my children because tomorrow, if a mob surrounds them and asks, ‘Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?’ they will have no answer.

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

When I first dreamt of becoming a movie star, I wanted to be a Gary Cooper: I wanted to be rich and famous, living in palaces and wearing dark glasses and white suits.

Finally, I have realised that it is important to look good.

Hindi cinema has only one religion, and that’s money.

Everyone equates good cinema with boring shots and boring films – where a character takes 10 minutes to walk down a corridor, and still nothing happens at the end of the shot. Those films tried to be cool and fashionable by dispensing with drama, which, in my opinion, is absolute nonsense.

I can say with pride that I have a brother who served with distinction in the Indian Army.