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Naseeruddin Shah has a thriving career in theatre apart from film. The Ishqaya star believes that his fellow actors should follow suit.

He says actors must have interests other than their life on the big screen. He tells PTI about how its sad that some of the biggest stars cannot speak on topics beyond themselves.

“I feel that film actors should have some other interest apart from movies, whether it is theatre or horse riding, mountain climbing anything. Otherwise you tend to become too insular. You end up like one of these creatures who are stars in our industry, with whom you cannot have two seconds of conversation unless it is about them,” he said.

Shah, who will be seen in the upcoming film Waiting, feels that actors who have no other interests end up being too two dimensional. “You talk about them all night they will listen, but if you talk about anything that taxes their mind, they will switch off. I think it is a shame that some of our biggest stars are so intellectually challenged.”

Naseeruddin Shah admits to not having many friends in the industry, despite his long run in the industry. But the few close friends he has, are people with interests outside of the field. “The most interesting actors that I have met are those, who have other interests. A guy like Danny [Denzongpa], who goes off to Sikkim whenever he feels like. He is into woodwork and carpentry. When I meet him, we talk about carpentry and mountains, never about movies,” he says, while adding “He is one of the few people in the industry I can claim to be a friend of mine. Tinu Anand and Jackie Shroff are others. I can’t think of any other actor whose house I have ever been to or who has been to my house. These are all people who have interests apart from movies.”

Shah's two sons, Imaad and Vivaan are also trying to enter Bollywood, and while they have their father's blessings to pursue the field, Shah hopes that they explore other interests as well.

“I wish they succeed in Bollywood. But I hope their dreams don’t end there. I hope they find something more meaningful to do with their life besides becoming successful Bollywood actors. Successful Bollywood actors are the most boring people on the earth,” he says.