Top 44 Puneet Issar Quotes

I am an artist. An actor performs, whether it’s in front of the camera or a live audience.

I am on a ketos diet so I avoid sugar, dairy products, wheat, grain or pulses.

In 2017 I started writing ‘Mahabharat An Epic Tale’ and it took me two years to write it and prepare the production with Rahul Bhuchar of Felicity theatre, and we launched it on the 17th of Nov 2018 and it was a super success.

As you age, you should be graceful.

It’s wonderful when you’re performing and the audience responds to it.

Unlike the victims of 9/11, who received plenty of relief aid compensation from the government and charitable institutions, those who suffered hate crimes were given very little. As tax-paying citizens of the country, they too deserved similar compensation.

Filmmaking seems more difficult but theatre comes with its own challenges.

My dance was really appreciated in ‘Bigg Boss’ and Colors TV has approached me for their dance reality show ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.’ I hope to take part in ‘Jhalak.’

‘My Name is Khan’ saw the post 9/11 scenario from a Muslim perspective. In fact all films dealing with the post 9/11 conflict – whether ‘New York,’ ‘Kurbaan’ or ‘Khuda Kay Liye’ only showed how Muslims were victimized.

I used to work out for eight hours a day, which includes running, boxing and martial arts.

I played Duryodhan, the young prince, 28 years ago. People still identify me as Duryodhan. But at 55, I cannot hope to play a 25-year-old.

I find the character of Jarasandh, the King of Magadha, captivating and challenging since he was invincible.

Every House has a Duryodhan, Dhritarashtra, Shakuni, Arjun, Karan, Gandhari, Bhishma . That’s the Beauty of ‘Mahabharat.’

God has been kind, people have given me a household name. Even after 30 years, they think I am Duryodhana.

In prose, if you forget a line, you can say something else in the same context.

I feel Karna is the noblest character in the ‘Mahabharat,’ and Duryodhan is reason for the war between cousins.

‘I Am Singh’ is about Sikhs, who, despite living in the U.S. for generations, were mistaken for Arabs and Afghans due to their turbans and became victims of racist violence in the aftermath of 9/11. The film takes a look at the discrimination against Sikhs post 9/11.

Tulsi Ramsay has been my mentor. In 1982, he and his brother Shyam Ramsay, came to me for ‘Purana Mandir.’

Indian mythology and its characters have always fascinated me and I find the antagonists especially very interesting.

A man should keep inventing and re-inventing himself.

You cannot have another ‘Ten Commandments’ or ‘Ben Hur’ or ‘Sholay’ or ‘Mother India.’ Likewise you cannot have another ‘Mahabharat.’

For me, ‘Bigg Boss’ was like a correction centre. I think every man and woman in every state should be sent there. People take so many things for granted. They will learn to appreciate what they have once they have spent some time in the house.

Artificial intelligence is taking over a lot of things. Jobs are going to go but artists and theatre are not going anywhere because it is live performance.

Though I enjoy playing historical characters, it is very taxing.

Parshuram’s is a very detailed character. People generally know him as an angry man who goes around cursing. What they are not aware of is the undercurrent of pain behind every curse of his. I bring out this pain in the character.

‘Bigg Boss’ is a game and not life.

Theatre is my first love.

Duryodhan was a prince fighting for his throne. He was powered by ambition and aspiration. Parshuram is godly. His fight is against injustice at a larger societal level. I’ve enjoyed playing both the characters.

I would work out seven hours a day – 3.5 hours in the morning and 3.5 in the evening.

I believe that history is written by the victors, but what about the vanquished? They also have a story to tell.

I have done amateurish stage during my college days.

In 2004, I was visiting my cousins in San Francisco and we were in a restaurant talking in Punjabi. We suddenly saw heads turn. And one of the Americans at the restaurant abused us and called my cousins, ‘turban-headed Osamas.’ That strengthened my resolve to make a film that highlights the issue.

I was a diction, speech and method acting professor before I became an actor.

‘I Am Singh’ is primarily about mistaken identities that led to racism post the 9/11 attacks.

Given a chance, I would love to host a television show as I have good communication skills and am fluent in Hindi, English and Urdu.

I feel I am the reincarnation of Duryodhan. There are lots of similarities between me and him.

‘I Am Singh’ underlines the fact that every guy who wears a turban is not an Osama Bin Laden.

What is wrong is wrong but there has to be a layered narrative. And that is what makes ‘Mahabharat’ timeless. People find its characters realistic. They could see their reflection in people even today.

It is very difficult to shoot mythological shows. The costumes and the make up are very time consuming… It definitely takes a toll on the body.

Many star kids constantly get compared to their fathers and are unable to match their parent’s mettle. But I am proud to say that my son has taken the legacy forward.

I like to believe I play tragic heroes – characters that are torn between the good and bad, the black and the white.

I think ‘Garv’ was ahead of its times.

I had read the ‘Mahabharat’ thoroughly even before meeting B. R. Chopra Sir. I knew the most important character was Duryodhan. Without him the ‘Mahabharat’ would not have happened. I straight away went and asked for that character itself.

In the heady days that followed the success of ‘Mahabharat,’ I was young, vain and didn’t care much about the story. But in the next two decades, I read a lot on the epic.