Yes, to a certain point, it does affect me. When you take up a film like Pad Man, you start learning about facts and real stories — this maid’s story, that villager’s story, some girl who committed suicide because somebody teased her about menstruation — and all of this makes you think. You feel so strongly about such things that you just want to push this film.

It’s not just a film or acting for me. Once the film releases, it doesn’t mean my job is over. In about four-five days, I will shoot a documentary for the Government about sanitation. Even Bhumi (Pednekar) has been asked to do it as a public service. I decided to take it up because I believed in it. I can’t even talk about what I’ve seen, read or heard about traditional menstruation practices. Around 42 crore women don’t use sanitary pads. Even if it changes three, five or 10 per cent, I would consider it great.

It’s not just a film or acting for me. Once the film releases, it doesn’t mean my job is over. In about four-five days, I will shoot a documentary for the Government about sanitation. Even Bhumi (Pednekar) has been asked to do it as a public service. I decided to take it up because I believed in it. I can’t even talk about what I’ve seen, read or heard about traditional menstruation practices. Around 42 crore women don’t use sanitary pads. Even if it changes three, five or 10 per cent, I would consider it great.

That’s an achievement for me. When a filmmaker thinks about a film and feels that only I can do the role, it makes me happy. They won’t think that yeh toh comedy hai, tragedy hai, yeh villain ka role hai — they know they can come to me with all of it. I have done it with my hard work and my parents’ blessings. Earlier, there were so many films being made, but I would only get a small chunk of action flicks. The rest were taken up by other actors. I would never get them. That hunger got me to attempt different kind of movies.

Most of my films be it Padman (2018), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) or even (the upcoming) Mission Mangal, they have one more thing — women’s empowerment. But I’ve to do a Housefull, a Rowdy Rathore and a Good News also. So, it’s not that this [issue-based films] is the only thing I do. Whenever I get a chance and a good script, I’ll do it. I want to have all kinds of films in my kitty.

All these things have been taught to me by my own experience. I’ve learned that if I do different genres, I won’t be tagged. When I used to do a lot of action, everyone said, ‘He is an action hero and nothing else’. So, I tried comedy, and then everyone was talking about just that. Then I decided I’ve to do different kinds of films. So, I am thankful to people, and the media, for criticising me to that point and bringing out the best in me.

It doesn’t really matter because what’s important is that the person has to suit the role. It’s not about how big the actor is. And not just female co-stars, it applies to the male actors, too. A lot of times I’ve lost roles. Though I thought I’d be very good (for those roles), the makers felt I won’t be able to perform. When I signed Toilet..., I was told I wouldn’t be able to carry it off. But I took it as a challenge and said, ‘let me try’. Also, there were times when I myself didn’t feel I fit the part, and backed off.

Most of my films be it Padman (2018), Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017) or even (the upcoming) Mission Mangal, they have one more thing — women’s empowerment. But I’ve to do a Housefull, a Rowdy Rathore and a Good News also. So, it’s not that this [issue-based films] is the only thing I do. Whenever I get a chance and a good script, I’ll do it. I want to have all kinds of films in my kitty.

All these things have been taught to me by my own experience. I’ve learned that if I do different genres, I won’t be tagged. When I used to do a lot of action, everyone said, ‘He is an action hero and nothing else’. So, I tried comedy, and then everyone was talking about just that. Then I decided I’ve to do different kinds of films. So, I am thankful to people, and the media, for criticising me to that point and bringing out the best in me.

It’s great to see our films being accepted globally. I hope doors are opened in all countries. There are many brilliant films that should go all over the world. I personally feel what Indian cinema is doing, and the kind of scripts it’s bringing on to the screen, even Hollywood is not doing such kind of work.

I wouldn’t say I’ve not been offered Hollywood films, but whatever came wasn’t big enough or that great. And I’m very happy doing films here [in Bollywood]. If something very good and effective comes that lets me show my talent in a better way, I would love to do it.

It depends on how I'm feeling. When I heard Arunachalam Muruganantham's story, as well as the facts - 82 per cent of Indian women, that's about 42 crore women - don't wear pads because they don't have the money or because they've been told to use rags or ash or hay because they want to be "closer to nature" - I felt compelled to do this story. But now I'm doing Kesari, a war film. I'm also 50 now... How much time do I have left? How much can my body take? Realistically, I probably have another five years to do action, so I'd like to do as much of it while I can.

The only thing that attracts audiences is change, because it's intriguing. On my part, I keep myself alive by not settling for what's comfortable or easy.

The first decade was the Khiladi days. I was only doing action. In the second decade, I tried my hand at other things - comedy and romance - and tried to get the directors and producers to see me in another light, to listen, and understand, and give me different work.

It was a huge struggle to change my image. Very few people trusted that I could do more. But I didn't want to do what I was doing any more because I was so bored - of getting up in the morning, going for shoots and being told: Do a flying kick, OK now a roundhouse kick. It became very monotonous. The first 10 years of my career, I wasn't acting at all; I was running a martial arts school on screen. I caught a lucky break with Priyadarshan's Hera Pheri, and then things began to change. This decade is about pushing my limits and changing with every film. Earlier, I'd experiment every 3 or 4 years. Now I want to do something entirely different with each film.

I like to pamper my family when we travel on holidays, but my wife doesn't like it. She prefers to keep things simple. She'll ask: Why do we have to travel on a private charter? Can't we fly commercial? We could have stayed in a two-bedroom villa. We don't need three... And so it goes.

I train to have fun. I don't work out to smash reps. I like to compete during my sessions, and mix it up - repetition is for the braindead. I couldn't train on the same machines day in, day out. I like to climb stairs, shadow box, ensure my kung fu kicks are up to scratch, jump off boxes and rock climb. Hydrotherapy is my new favourite form of exercise... it offers high resistance with no impact.

Parkour will always be a hobby, but you can only jump off so many rooftops until your life flashes before your eyes, so I prefer to save those moves for the big screen. Fitness is about balance. There's no need to push yourself so hard in the gym one day that you can't return the next. Listen to your body, and stay attuned to nature. Don't be the fool who takes substances to enhance muscles you'll never be able to maintain. Natural is sexy.

Never fight in anger. When someone tries to hurt or humiliate me, I'm entirely capable of lashing out and retaliating twice as hard. But then I remember my three idols - my father, Gandhiji and Bruce Lee, who once said, "Flow like water, anger is only poison for the heart." In life, as in martial arts, do what you do out of love and passion, and if you've got to fight, do it only to protect your loved ones.

Never fight in anger. When someone tries to hurt or humiliate me, I'm entirely capable of lashing out and retaliating twice as hard. But then I remember my three idols - my father, Gandhiji and Bruce Lee, who once said, "Flow like water, anger is only poison for the heart." In life, as in martial arts, do what you do out of love and passion, and if you've got to fight, do it only to protect your loved ones.

When our director, Jagan, narrated the script, he told me astonishing facts that really opened my eyes. I was drawn to ‘Mission Mangal’ instantly because the fact that India launched a satellite mission to Mars in the quickest amount of time and with the smallest budget in comparison to NASA, China and Russia. It was certainly a story that needed to be told. As his sister works at ISRO as a scientist, Jagan had a clearer picture about the characters, their portrayal and the entire mission per say.

I was extremely proud that I was chosen to play the character of Rakesh Dhawan and to represent one of the biggest moments on India’s space history on screens. What made me even more compelled to be a part of the film was the fact that this was a real story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, achieving huge feats and inspiring generations to dream big.

I was extremely proud that I was chosen to play the character of Rakesh Dhawan and to represent one of the biggest moments on India’s space history on screens. What made me even more compelled to be a part of the film was the fact that this was a real story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, achieving huge feats and inspiring generations to dream big.

I got to learn a lot about space science thanks to this role, as I play the Mission Director. Besides updating my vocabulary with scientific terms like ‘trajectory,’ the meaning of which I still don’t understand (chuckles), there wasn’t really any special preparation required for the role as such. Like with all my films, I followed my director’s instructions as he’s the one person who understands the film better than any of us.

I definitely didn’t know much about India’s Mars mission prior to the film. I didn’t realize just how magnificent the team at ISRO’s achievements were until I learned about the facts. It was a truly an overwhelming experience to sink into the character, even though I have done over 150 films. We were bringing to the screen one of the proudest moments in Indian space history, and we had to be extremely responsible in our portrayal of the scientists, as we wanted to do absolute justice to their achievement, innovation and genius. Jagan had immense clarity, and all my co-stars did their job so well that it inspired me to put my best foot forward, too.

In ‘Mission Mangal,’ we were one big team and learned so much. Being placed in the shoes of a space scientist allowed us to investigate a completely different profession, and a small glimpse at how hard-working the people in this industry are. ‘Mission Mangal’ is neither a male centric or woman centric film — central to the film is the focus of having an empowered mind, where every human being has the opportunity to think with unlimited possibilities to achieve unlimited feats.

I feel truly blessed to be surrounded by such incredible women in my life, be it my mother, my wife or my mother-in-law, and even my 6-year-old daughter. All of them have been of immense value addition to my life and their experiences have inspired me as each day they contribute to my growth on a personal and professional level.

I truly believe in the subject matters of the films I pursue and take on those projects hoping they will have an impact, which I believe they can. I have only been investing myself in projects that I am deeply passionate about, even when others may be skeptical about them. Films I have done with that mentality including ‘Toilet – Ek Prem Katha‘ and ‘Padman’ are a result of this mentality, and they were so worth the risk

Indian cinema has taken on a more serious tone in the past few years, and I believe it has been for the better, because we are focusing more on the reality of Indian life. We are a very high achieving nation, with so many amazing stories to tell. ‘Mission Mangal’ particularly focuses on a such an amazing true story that is timely and an inspiration.

The film, I believe, will strike a chord with the young and old alike. I would love for parents to take their young children to watch this film and maybe we will have more children aspiring to be scientists.

Cinema is a reflection of the society, and is bound to be influenced by the changes brought about in our society. Needless to say that Indian society has drastically evolved in a plethora of ways in the last three decades, which is also reflected in the ways our films are being produced and consumed. The content of our cinema has expanded to embrace new perspectives and fresh story ideas, which are broadening not only the appeal of our cinema to wider audiences but attempting to spotlight issues, themes and topics that have traditionally been deemed taboo, niche or more suited to parallel cinema. Our industry has certainly become more inclusive and progressive to reflect the zeitgeist.

One day, while we were working on “Ikka,” Jagan casually mentioned that his sister was a scientist and told me a one-line idea of the story. I told him to work on it, and within 20 days, he came up with a brief story that he had co-written with Balki. We decided to go ahead with this story first.

No, all that happened naturally. Our film is about our Mars Mission and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), and we did not even know that on our release date it celebrates 50 years of coming into existence! We came to know that just a few weeks ago! I have never even visited ISRO. Now I am also proud that my company has produced the first-ever Hindi film on Space Research. Did you know that this year, 18 percent of the budget has been allocated for Space Research as against just two or three percent earlier? Chandrayaan 2 is just one example of how important Space Research has become now.

But I keep doing them! I am doing “Housefull 4” and “Ikka.” “Sooryavanshi” and “Bachchan Pandey” are also very entertaining. I must just like the character and the script. I did not have too long a role in many of my films, like “Khakee” or “OMG - Oh My God!” and had just a cameo in “Dishoom.” I like to balance my work. There was a time, as I have been telling you guys over the years, that I was branded and did nothing but action, action and action. Then some truly good friends like Priyadarshan, Dharmesh Darshan and Tanuja Chandra made me do comedies, love stories and drama. I have enjoyed doing every kind of film.

In that film, Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh are likely to play cameos. Look, I really do not see why we all cannot do two-, three- or four-hero films. It’s all insecurity, I think. Why can’t we make “Amar Akbar Anthony” today? (He does not mean a remake but a three-hero film with big stars). If you see the films in my early years, I have worked with almost every star. I have even done a 7-hero film in “Jaani Dushman - Ek Anokhi Kahani.” And “Mission Mangal” has five heroines!

Of course, I was advised against doing half my roles! “Dishoom,” the forthcoming “Laxmmi Bomb” and films like “Khakee” and “Hera Pheri” among others like “Toilet - Ek Prem Katha” and “Pad-Man.”

We have released the trailer also in Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi. We also hope to get Tax-Free status, but over here, that is usually declared in the second or third week, whereas it is the first week that is actually important!