'The Biggest Film Star in the World'

Your recent films have been more serious, with less romantic interest.

Well, you couldn't expect me to romance a 21-year-old. I'm fortunate that there are filmmakers who want to make films like "Dev" (2004) and "Black" (2005), that people still consider me important enough to offer me good roles.

So, will you work more with art cinema than in Bollywood's "song-dance-action" formula films?

"Bollywood" is a demeaning term for a respectable industry. It was coined by a journalist but now it's in the Oxford Dictionary for eternity ... Despite differences in style, "art" films also tell a story and depend on the box office. If it's easier now to work in non-commercial cinema, it's because I'm not carrying the tag of being a leading man and all the commerce that goes with that tag.

You've been compared to Clint Eastwood. Do you plan to direct?

No, I don't know how to. I'm having a tough time being an actor.