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Naseeruddin Shah likes to say it like it is.

So, at the recent Osianama festival in Mumbai, he talked about his 'unconventional career' and admitted that he never saw himself as a 'hero'.

“I never dreamt of being a commercial hero. I never dreamt of romancing girls younger than my daughter,” he said, according to Indian Express. His remark is a clear reference to Bollywood's tendency to pair young actresses with old A-listers. For instance, Sonam Kapoor played Salman Khan's interest in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, and Shah Rukh Khan is due to romance Alia Bhatt in Karan Johar's next.

The plainspeaking actor also remarked that it was hard to be friends with other actors: “Actors are insecure people including me. It is not possible to be friends with other actors. I can’t really claim that I am friendly with other actors. The friends who I have are not from the profession of acting.”

He went on to dispense solid career advice for aspiring actors and other artists. He said he never felt any fear of failure as an actor while starting out. “You could call it self confidence or madness but I was perfectly convinced this is what I wanted to do and so there was no point thinking about what will happen if I don’t succeed.”