I consider myself a very lucky person. Because I love my job. It’s an absolutely brutal profession, and obvious perks like money and fame aside, you take it for granted that you will be slandered, ridiculed, and abused on pretty much a daily basis.
I’m cool with it though, because I honestly love being on a film set. We work long hours, often shooting through the night, through heat and cold, rain, snow, sandstorms (yes, really) and God knows what else; but for someone who genuinely likes it, there is no better life. I could never imagine doing anything else. It’s important, I think, for your work to satisfy you. Whatever your chosen field, whatever it is you do to pay the bills, I think for a person to be truly happy, they have to like their job. And I’s not just talking about earning well, I’m talking about real job satisfaction. The ability to go home at the end of the day and feel like you accomplished something. To feel proud. That’s the kind of feeling you can only get when you’re doing something you love, with people you enjoy working with.
Most of my close friends are not a part of the film industry. I like it that way, because it gives me a perspective of the rest of the world. One friend works as a commodities trader, and spent an evening talking about the rates at which pepper is trading. It was the most boring thing I could imagine, but for him it was thrilling stuff. Clearly, this is a guy who loves his job. As I look at the people around me, it starts to become clearer; work is important. If you’re not working, you tend to feel unfulfilled. And while most jobs can cover our necessities, we’re all out there looking for one that we truly like. We’ll travel a little further to work with good people, or make do with slightly less money in a job that makes us happy. And we lucky ones get to leave home with a smile on our faces every morning.
{{/usCountry}}Most of my close friends are not a part of the film industry. I like it that way, because it gives me a perspective of the rest of the world. One friend works as a commodities trader, and spent an evening talking about the rates at which pepper is trading. It was the most boring thing I could imagine, but for him it was thrilling stuff. Clearly, this is a guy who loves his job. As I look at the people around me, it starts to become clearer; work is important. If you’re not working, you tend to feel unfulfilled. And while most jobs can cover our necessities, we’re all out there looking for one that we truly like. We’ll travel a little further to work with good people, or make do with slightly less money in a job that makes us happy. And we lucky ones get to leave home with a smile on our faces every morning.
{{/usCountry}}Responses: Upasana, I’ve never believed in fate or destiny... it just never seemed plausible to me. And I’ll keep an eye out for you on Twitter! Thanks for your kind words Kehkashan. Jaap, I’m sorry but I’ll be shooting in Bombay and then New Zealand for the next few months... no plans to come to Delhi. But I’ll bear in mind that you’d asked for an interview. I owe you one. Kedar, have some faith dude. I don’t have a ghost writer on payroll! And finally, Happy Birthday Palak from your brother Lakshit. Come on, forgive him!
Write to me at imran.khan@hindustantimes.com