Mumbai Quotes

Mumbai city has given me a lot of love.

In Mumbai, it’s almost like Hollywood. They can appeal to different segments and still be successful. There are multiplex audiences to whom you can showcase any lifestyle. But in Tamil cinema, we need to satisfy everybody, whether urban or rural.

I am from Mumbai. I studied at the Utpal Sanghvi School at Juhu and then went to the Mithibai College. I come from a business family, and I am the only son.

In Mumbai, I don’t know many people. I only know colleagues.

Dance and Mumbai go hand-in-hand.

I turned atheist in the ’90s when India went through troubled times – communal riots, bomb blasts… Mumbai, where I live, was badly affected. I blamed religion; also, extremists on both sides – right and left.

My mom was working through my childhood, so I would be running around Mumbai from one dance class to another with my mom carrying the tape recorder with me. I would sit on the sidelines and watch her teach dance.

I love to get on the road, but I also think arriving is such a thrill. Turning up at the train station in Mumbai, for example, to see people hanging off all the wonderful old carriages. It’s extraordinary – everyone sitting with their chickens on their laps, moving forward but not going anywhere fast.

In Mumbai, life is always on the go, but in Delhi, I get a break; it gives me a lot of peace. Here I feel like I am on a pampered holiday, and I am treated like a princess.

My lowest point came when I shifted to Mumbai in 1993. Nothing was happening. This is right after I did ‘Bandit Queen.’ I had no way to tell people that I know my job. There was no casting department here. All the commercial films that were happening in those days did not have any place for me.

My whole outlook towards women changed after ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania.’ I am a boy who is brought up in Mumbai, and I believe I am open-minded. But I realised that there were so many things my mind was not expanded to.

Mumbai is like Manhattan. There’s a certain pace, a social life and the thrill of a professional life.

I was 19 when I made my Bollywood debut with ‘Ekk Deewana Tha,’ and all alone in Mumbai. I would be easily affected by all that was said or written about me.

I have travelled the world and lived in places such as Africa, Australia, America, and I have to say there is a great sense of belonging that comes with finally settling in Mumbai.

When we moved base to Mumbai, I was noticed by Terence Lewis, who offered me a scholarship from his dance foundation. That is when doors opened up for me.

There is a difference between Mumbai wali Urvashi and Delhi wali Urvashi, and there is no place like Delhi on this earth.

My biggest inspiration has been life for me. Basic survival has been my biggest teacher. Surviving in Mumbai for so many years has been a huge ordeal.

I recently passed through Mumbai airport. I cannot claim it was a pleasant experience. But if I had a choice between Mumbai airport and Euston on a Sunday afternoon, I’d take Mumbai any day.

When I came to Mumbai, I only wanted to be an actor, and my approach hasn’t digressed over the years. I never really hoped to be in the limelight or wanted to be a star.

Oh, it was a tough call to reach Mumbai leaving friends and home behind but I knew ‘it’s now or never.’ So I embarked on my new journey.

I have never sat in a Metro in Delhi and Mumbai, but one day I would love to travel in the metro in Lucknow.

When I was doing theatre in Mumbai, actors won’t come because they had television. For many years, I did theatre religiously and in Mumbai, I saw people disrespecting it and it hurt me very badly.

‘The Xpose’ was just an experiment, a small step into Bollywood. It wasn’t my acting debut, as reported in Mumbai. I’ve done a couple of Punjabi films.

Terrorism doesn’t have a border. Terrorists attack Mumbai, Peshawar, and also Paris.

Delhi is fresh, brazen and more glamorous as compared to subtle Mumbai.

I have led a few teams prior to the IPL, led in Mumbai T20 as well as DY Patil T20 tournament.

I love India. I love the people, food and the environment. Yes, I am from London, but right from when I was a toddler, I’ve always lived between Mumbai and London.

When I first moved to Mumbai, I shared a flat with 12 boys.

Though I love driving, I am not much of a long drive person. In Mumbai, we hardly have roads for long drives and the highways are mostly clogged up with traffic.

Having born and brought up in Mumbai, I am as urban as urban can be, but my parents ensured that my sister and I understand social responsibility as well.

I went to Mumbai thinking I will be away from media and fans, but right from the Governor of Maharashtra to aam janata, at least 60 people would come to visit me every day. There were calls, messages and I was so touched. I didn’t know that people loved me so much and they want to see me back in action.

In 2004, I shifted to Mumbai and started working in theatre, along with working for corporates for 15 years. That helped me a lot in creating a different character for multiple shows.

In Mumbai, I feel like a stranger.

I have studied and graduated out of Delhi. I moved to Mumbai after graduation.

People in Mumbai are not really into Punjabi music, whereas those in Delhi and Gurgaon love Punjabi numbers and are totally into the peppy music.

As a child, I thought we had come to Mumbai for a holiday. I did not realise that this holiday was permanent.

I’m born in Mumbai and have made this my home. I have a lot of Maharashtrian friends as well. I understand the language perfectly.

I’ve got more than half of Mumbai addicted to the Internet.

When I came to Mumbai, I had no experience in acting ’til I actually did it.

Coming from a middle class background, I faced a lot of hardships during my initial years in Mumbai. I did not have much money and had to sing jingles and bhajans to survive. But those years taught me that a singer should be versatile.

After my 12th, my parents moved to Bangalore while I moved to Mumbai to study Economics at Sophia College. Much unlike other girls who managed to evade the curfew and organised the slips to get out of college, we would attend college and were interested in academics.

More people are asking me to come and sing for them, so obviously I am getting more work. But apart from singing, I have been parallely programming and producing music tracks and assisting music directors. That is my bread and butter, which is how I survived in Mumbai. Now I can’t leave it.

I have visited slums in Mumbai, I have visited slums in other countries, but nothing is like North Korea because North Korean starvation, it’s a systematic starvation by a country that chose to starve us.

Sachin has been an integral part of Mumbai Indians and a source of inspiration for the team ever since the inception.

Before ‘Kai Po Che’, I used to go for auditions in the hope that I will get work and should be able to pay my monthly house rent of 20,000 in 4 Bungalows, Andheri, Mumbai.

Mumbai can eat you up or teach you how to survive because it is a tricky city. I guess living in cities like Mumbai or Delhi makes you slightly more street-smart and alert.

My base will always be Mumbai since my parents live here and I will always come down to Mumbai or fly down south for work.

I had an experience which I could not explain to myself and to others while I was on my way back from a south Mumbai party. It was near Haji Ali. All six of us who were travelling went through this. And this experience which I went through became the vital ingredient of the story of ‘Talaash’.

During the initial two years in Mumbai, it was lonely and awkward for me, till I made some friends in South Mumbai.

Whenever I feel like the hustle of Mumbai is suffocating me, I just hop on a plane and jet off to Goa for three to four nights.

In the industry, people talk about how getting their first project was a struggle but for me, the real struggle in Mumbai was to adapt to the lifestyle, culture and work ethics.

There was never a need to call the Army in Mumbai. I am proud of the administration which rose to the challenge and set up jumbo field hospitals for treatment of coronavirus patients in the city.

I was born in Mumbai and brought up between Mumbai and Nashik.

My dad lost his father when he was nine and ran away from home to come to Mumbai to feed his mother and his three siblings.

I loved ‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Roberts, which is going to be made into a film. It’s an amazing story about an Australian guy who escapes from prison and his first port of call is Mumbai.

We will primarily focus on affordable housing, water supply and transport infrastructure, as these are critical for Mumbai. Infrastructure deficit is an issue in all urban areas.

I was a glamorous actress in Mumbai. I had done Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Musafir.’ I wanted to know how Buddhada thought of me in the role of Supriya, Rahul Bose’s unhappy wife in ‘Kaalpurush.’ It needs a visionary film-maker to see an actor in a role that seems very removed from her real personality or on-screen image.

The centuries-old history and culture of India, majestic architectural monuments and museums of Delhi, Agra and Mumbai have a unique attractive force.

I am a full Parsi born and brought up in South Mumbai.

When I started working in Mumbai, I was interested in working in the indie and niche spaces, as they do make really good cinema, driven by good stories. But then, I decided to explore everything possible.

Maharashtra, Mumbai and Mumba Devi blessed me and gave me name, fame and everything else.

Mumbai is on a seismically sensitive zone; it is also dangerously exposed to the sea.

I’ve always enjoyed visiting India and we usually go to Mumbai or Delhi a few times during the season. It’s a shame there is no race in India because it’s a great facility and I always enjoyed racing there.

I once bought a winter jacket on one of my travels abroad – definitely an extravagant purchase because I hardly have any use for it, since I live in Mumbai!

The first eight years in Mumbai were specially tough. I knew during the first two months of my stay that there’s no point waiting for hours to meet producers. They won’t meet you and definitely won’t give you a role.

Mumbai can be contagious. The pace of life is so fast that if I travel out of the city I am happy for a few days, but then I crave the Mumbai hit.

I did not come to Mumbai because I wanted to be a star. I came to Mumbai because I genuinely love acting, and it gives me a kick.

I never thought I would get into acting. I was studying computer applications in Delhi and that was when I got selected for my first TV show and came to Mumbai.

We are not only having a great audience for Punjabi films in north India but we are also seeing growth in other places like Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Indore, etc. And the overseas audiences have always been good for us. Without them we couldn’t have taken Punjabi cinema to such heights.

I am the same person who came to this city Mumbai a few years ago to act in Hindi films, and I am just continuing doing that. I did not change as a person. All that happens is people change around me.

I don’t believe in differentiating between Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian – we are all one, and Mumbai is for everyone.

I lost my mother to cancer, so once Masaba was born, my father moved from Old Delhi to live with me in Mumbai.

There isn’t that big a vibe around Diwali in Mumbai. Over there its Ganpati Visarjan, which is quite huge.

Coming from Mumbai, the one thing that always amazes me about Noida is the roads here. Such wide roads are something you don’t get to see in Mumbai. Driving around here is surely a pleasure.

As for the development of Mumbai, the problem is that most of our chief ministers are from interior Maharashtra and they are not familiar with the problems confronting the city. Only someone born here will understand the problems of the metropolis.

I left my cushy job as an engineer in New Delhi in 2008 to pursue acting in Mumbai. I figured roles will start pouring in as soon as I landed in the city, but my bubble burst quickly.

I’ve seen almost all of Rajinikanth sir’s movies, at least the ones that have come to Mumbai, since I don’t understand Tamil. I loved him in the movie ‘Hum’ as well.

From Mira Road to Malad, Mumbai is full of such outsiders, wanting to become Shah Rukh Khan.

Hindi films are so deceptive. I thought Mumbai was this big, grand, beautiful city with sea-facing flats.

When I came to Mumbai, it was very difficult. I enjoyed every bit of it, but it was so new, and life was very different – new people and new home.

The purpose behind coming to Mumbai had always been music and I feel blessed to have got the opportunity to showcase my talent, work with prominent directors and reach out to my fans.

I bought my home in Mumbai in 2008 and things started changing for me after 2011 when I brought my first Ganpati. Career-wise, it took an upward graph for me and I totally believe in it.

I teach theatre in Mumbai and at the National School of Drama, as I want to remain connected with it.

Mumbai is home to us. Medina was born in Munich because Roya’s family lives in Germany and she had five sisters to help her while I was travelling for work.

I have found Delhi so much more beautiful than Mumbai. South and central Delhi, especially, are just so beautiful – the roads, the trees, the buildings, the history.

I was very close to Mani Rabadi. She not only designed my clothes in some of my films, she was also a personal friend and guide when I was new to Mumbai.

It’s a destination wedding, I can’t reveal the place – but for sure it’s not in Mumbai.

Have you ever stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mumbai? I’d warmly recommend it. It’s super luxurious, and right next door, there’s a classic slum. So you can do a quick slum tour and get back to your sanctuary without any inconvenience but with some excellent snaps.

I came from a seedha-saadha middle class family in Mumbai. The Infosys story changed our life drastically but we have remained the same.

It used to bug me that I couldn’t even afford to take my family for a proper holiday. I didn’t have any professional knowledge, and getting a photographer’s job in a magazine was out of the question. So, armed with a Pentax K1000, I started going to various maidans of Mumbai, looking for subjects.

What is most amusing and can happen only in India is that the most posh and big households that I’ve seen in Mumbai, the ‘big city’, will have their balconies and windows festooned with rows of baniyans and tauliyas hanging on them.

I hail from a Kannada family. And I have grown up in Mumbai.

I had never imagined that after coming to Mumbai that, as an actor, my dates would be booked in six-eight months in advance.

I was born in Begusarai in Bihar. Then I spent 10 years in Kolkata and later hopped from Kathmandu to Delhi and, finally, Mumbai.

Even after coming to Mumbai in 1981, I did theatre for some time.

I was born there and I moved away in 1990 when I was seven years old. After that my family moved away from there to Delhi and Mumbai. Now, only a handful of relatives live in Kashmir and we are constantly worried about them. It pains me to see that my birth-place is not a safe place to be in anymore.

Mumbai is becoming more and more of a nightmare.

In Mumbai, you have to act in real life, too.

My father is conservative but has always supported my decisions. He lets me take my own decisions. His only condition while allowing me to come to Mumbai was that my mother must accompany me.

I am bouncing back despite being a girl from Mumbai who didn’t work for two years. A lot of others girls in the same situation would have had to walk away from the industry.

There have been number of films that have been made with Mumbai as a backdrop or a character. ‘Company,’ ‘Life In A Metro,’ ‘Ek Chalis Ki Last Local’ – they all have presented Mumbai in a different manner.

In the United States in 2009, more than 10.2 billion trips were taken on transit trains and buses. So far, the nation has not experienced a major transit attack since Sept. 11, but the March 2010 Moscow subway bombings and earlier train attacks in London and Mumbai show that we must be prepared.

I have been worried about the future of Mumbai. It is the financial capital, an economic powerhouse that earlier had the highest air traffic, high port traffic, and strong industrial and manufacturing sectors.

Every good looking and handsome boy goes to Mumbai first to struggle; he doesn’t focus on Punjabi cinema.

My interest is to do interesting lead parts, to tell different stories and to surprise the audience. But as they say in Mumbai, everything is pre-written and it chooses you.

I came back to Mumbai with the tag of having assisting the legendary Satyajit Ray. I thought that would be a medal, but it became a disqualification. People thought I would only make serious kinds of cinema.

People talk about places like Mumbai as a tale of two cities, as if the rich and poor don’t have anything to do with each other.

Life in Dehradun is far more relaxing and pleasant than life in Mumbai.

The taste of a multiplex audience in Amrawati is very different from the taste a multiplex audience in Nariman Point, Mumbai.

I love Mumbai for many reasons.

Of course, no one has enough time to see every shop that Mumbai has: That would take more lifetimes than even the gods could offer.

When I came to Mumbai seven years back, I used to hate the fact that I am overweight.

I was lucky to land up in Mumbai when serious cinema was just beginning to flower.

I grew up in Delhi, where there are no Parsis. But once I came to Mumbai, I realised how quirky Parsis are.

I love the Mumbai monsoons, but it really does get messy.

I was born in Mumbai. We stayed in a joint family. But in 1994, my father had to shift to Pune for business. I started working at a very early stage. Immediately after my SSC board examination, I took up odd jobs in shops, as I wanted to contribute to my family.

India. From Goa to Kerala and Mumbai, it gets me every time. It’s the food, the people, and the colours. The magical atmosphere and the accepting nature of the locals.

I was not picked immediately at any level, be it Under-14, Under-16 or Under-19. So apart from my batting, I bowled legspin. In one of the selection tournaments for Mumbai Under-19, I happened to pick 34 wickets. So I was finally picked, but as a bowling allrounder.

I was born and brought up in South Mumbai. My father, Jagdeep, is a businessman and a Sindhi. My mother is half Brit and half Muslim. I am thus a cocktail of mixed blood. From the time I remember, I wanted to be an actress.

After ‘Njandukalude…’ I had gone for an acting course in Mumbai as I felt the need to improve my acting skills.

I have great expectations about ‘Trance.’ It has been in the making for two years and we shot in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, places in Kerala and in Mumbai.

I am an engineer by profession, but I knew I wanted to act. My parents always encouraged me, and when my father shifted to Mumbai for work for a brief while, I came along.

New Year’s Eve 2021 will look different this time around. We won’t attend big parties with our friends and neighbors, there’ll be no crowd-filled ball drop in Mumbai clubs and street side.

For my first Bollywood movie, ‘Ekk Deewana Tha,’ my mum also came over because Mumbai was completely new to me, and I’d heard it’s a huge city.

As for me I may not have relatives in the film industry. But I grew up in Mumbai as an avid moviegoer. So I don’t feel like an outsider.

Actually, my real name is not Mona. It’s Jasmeet. I changed it to Mona when I came to Mumbai.

That’s the beauty of Mumbai. While some parts have grown rapidly, there are places like Churchgate that have retained their character.

The fact is I like Mumbai less and less. My son says, ‘Baba, let’s go for a drive’, and I tell him, ‘Where’s the fun of a drive in this place?’ You get caught in a million traffic jams, and you spend time cooped in your car with all that mad cacophony around you.

To be honest, I hadn’t realised the greatness of film music till I was exposed to film songs after I started living in Mumbai.

I have become a little more cynical and, I would like to believe, a little wiser. When I first came to Mumbai, I was very idealistic. Now I can look anyone in the face and tell a lie. But I’m in a good place.

Now that I’ve moved to Mumbai, I should perhaps get a horse. It’ll be a nice escape from my everyday life.

I have learnt from many experienced players in the Mumbai team as well as the India A team how to be consistent. That helps a lot to ensure that I don’t get into bad form.

It was a major turning point in my career when Anup Jalota invited me to accompany him on his various world tours. I was in two minds whether to pursue a music career in Mumbai or to stay back in Calcutta. Being the only son, it was a tough decision.

Mainstream Mumbai movies are my bread and butter, but films like ‘Brick Lane’ and ‘Road, Movie’ provide sustenance to my creative soul.

In Mumbai and Chennai there is method in the madness. Despite its large crowds there is a ‘live and let live’ spirit and a connection with good.

The challenge starts when you first come to Mumbai. But it’s momentary if you win an award.

When I got to Mumbai, I missed the Delhi parks and grounds.

If you look at any Mumbai guy, he starts to handle pressure at a very young age. Starts at the school level, then the pressure from parents, from the coaches.

In my third year in Mumbai, I finally got my first break in Bollywood.

Everybody has to go through a struggle period, and I was no different. When I came to Mumbai from Delhi, I didn’t know anybody, and all my relationships had to be built up from scratch, including my work relationships.

Mumbai is where my heart is. This is home.

I can’t stand the slow pace of Jaipur anymore. I like staying in Mumbai, as everyone is on the move.

In Delhi, I got a chance to assist someone on a documentary film. Then I moved to Mumbai. This was before the satellite TV. One had to assist a director for years before being able to direct a movie.

When I did the Art of Living course in Mumbai in 1996, I really didn’t know what to expect.

For 12 years, I have been traveling from New Mumbai to Mumbai for work and every small things.

I said the export benefit should go to all the farmers in the country through the mills spread across the country, in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. Now what happens? This benefit goes to those mills or export houses in Mumbai. Or in Chennai or in Bangalore.

Mumbai and Gujarat are the two places that can be termed as the capital of theatre.

When I moved to Mumbai I had no acting background and so was unable to make a breakthrough for years.

I am not really a cook as such, but I have lived a bachelor life when I first came to Mumbai, so at times I have had to cook for myself for basic survival.

Delhi is truly the fashion address of the country, and some of the best designers from there are ruling Mumbai.

When I was in Mumbai for the promotion of ‘Makkhi,’ I met Ajay Devgn, Kajol, and Shah Rukh Khan, and I wanted to meet Aamir Khan. He was shooting out of India. I also met my favourite director, Raju Hirani. All of them showered praises on ‘Makkhi.’

There are so many fabulous heroine-oriented projects happening in Mumbai, whether it’s ‘Kahaani,’ ‘Bobby Jasoos,’ ‘Queen’ or ‘Mardaani.’

I love India and Mumbai and would love to buy a house here.

On the way back from Mumbai to go meet with President Xi in China, I stopped in Singapore to meet with a guy named Lee Kuan Yew, who most foreign policy experts around the world say is the wisest man in the Orient.

Those of us who live in Mumbai or Delhi have notions about what women who live in Bhopal, or smaller towns, are like; and that perception is wrong. Some people are scared by how complex and subversive these women’s lives can be.

While we are originally from Mangalore, my grandfather had migrated to Burma from where he returned to join the Indian National Army and settled in Mumbai, where I was born and brought up.

When I came to Mumbai, I was just 19 years old and did the TV show, ‘Remix’. Thereafter, I just fell in love with acting.

Back in 1981, when I had moved to Mumbai from Delhi and literally lived on the streets, I started accepting any role that came my way.

I moved to Mumbai to pursue my degree after high school.

I grew up in Mumbai.

When I came to Mumbai, I knew that I am an actor but I am not a working actor. To keep this actor alive, I had to feed him, I took up the casting job so that I can run my house.

I have huge respect for Sridevi ji as a flag-bearer of the southern film industries in Mumbai for many years. I wish her all the best. And I wish ‘Mom’ a big success, as the trailer looks very intriguing and promising.

The most beautiful destination I’ve been to was the Seychelles Islands, and the most culturally inspiring place was Mumbai, India.

In Mumbai, even Bollywood stars use autos when they are in a hurry.

I am not from a film family or a Mumbai girl. The probability of getting a second chance is low, and so one has to be more careful.

I love being in Hyderabad, as I never get bored like I do in Mumbai.

I am planning to leave Mumbai and go somewhere else in search of guys. I don’t want to settle with a guy from the industry.

It was a very big decision when I decided to leave B. Tech to come to Mumbai. But they were always supportive. At one point, I felt I shouldn’t do it. My mother encouraged me then.

I knew that I was just one of those actors who came to Mumbai to achieve their dreams. I knew that nobody would welcome me with open arms and auditions were the only way to get a chance.

Most of my closest friends have come to visit me in Hyderabad. So I feel I’m always linked with Mumbai.

I was born in Mumbai, but I grew up in England, and then my adulthood has been in the States. I’m an American stuffed with an English person with an Indian person inside. I feel like those things kind of inform me in some way, which I think helps me as an actor.

We used to live in a rented house in Mumbai, and now we live in our own house. That, for me, is success.

When we left Mumbai to play in the World Cup there were hardly any journalists to see us off. But when we returned to India on July 25 having made the final, there were close to a hundred journalists at 2.30 in the morning. It was totally new.

Actually, I came to Mumbai from Jamshedpur in 1991 to become an actor. I began searching for work and I was all alone and absolutely empty-handed, no craft and nobody that I knew.

It’s not easy, but I’m really enjoying what I am doing. One day I am in Chennai, the other in Mumbai, then in Coimbatore. But I love my job, and I am really passionate about my work.

I had a fantastic couple of years with Mumbai but I am now excited about the challenge with Rajasthan. It will be great to play alongside Ben Stokes, while any time you get to play in the IPL it is a fantastic experience.

I want to have tried at least once and got out of my comfort zone in Mumbai. I know that Hindi serials are waiting for me there.

The taste of street food in north India can’t be found in Mumbai.

I started as a stand-up comedian at charity shows in Mumbai.

I came to Mumbai for my internship in advertising in an ad agency. Back then, a senior from my college who was working for Balaji asked whether I wanted to act. I agreed, and I didn’t even know when it became my passion and my hobby.

I have done ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan,’ ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!;’ they are not comedy. But those roles didn’t stick with people. Comedy films run, even though some of them are bad films. So people see these more.

It seems the BJP desperately needs to win Mumbai to stand on its feet once again. After all, the greed to win Mumbai will continue to remain, no matter how many States you win.

A hundred for Mumbai feels good, and it doesn’t get bigger than MCA for me because they are the people who have helped me get to where I have.

Now when one goes to Dubai, one does shop a lot. I bought a lot of exotic food like Tofu and smoked salmon, which are generally not available in Mumbai.

Even in music concerts in Mumbai and different parts of the world, seats are reserved for sponsors.

I went all out to help these migrants because I was a migrant, too, who came to Mumbai with a lot of dreams. When I saw photographs of their sufferings and read heart-wrenching stories of how they are walking thousands of kilometers without food and water, it reminded me of my early days.

Buying a house in Mumbai is a big deal. Even after a decade of being in Mumbai, there was a time when we didn’t have a house, suddenly the whole family was homeless.

In Mumbai you have people of all cast and religion.

I have lived in Mumbai for more than 20 years, have my domicile here, my home and family here.

In Mumbai, Marathi schools are shutting down and Urdu schools are increasing. The parties governing the BMC are giving permission to these schools. If Urdu schools are rising, you know whose numbers are increasing and who is coming to the city.

As it happens, I live in Kolkata; my husband Kalyan lives in New Jersey in USA; our elder daughter lives in Cincinnati – also in USA; my younger daughter lives in Mumbai; my sisters live in Delhi.

Rajiv largely stayed with me, he had a house in Pune but he was mostly in Mumbai.

I’m a city boy, born and brought up in Mumbai. I talk fast, have a certain sense of humour, and have grown up watching Jackie Chan movies.

I am basically a Delhi boy who has been living in Mumbai for the past 12 years.

Can I call up any actor in Mumbai? I can, and they can say wrong number and hang up!

When I moved to Mumbai for college, it was bit of a culture shock.

People think that just because I live in Mumbai, I’m not interested in Bengali films. But I want to act more in Tollywood because roles here are meatier.

Mumbai is more film based and cosmopolitan. It consists of a mixed community, but I personally feel that Delhi is more sophisticated and enjoys theatre more.

Besides going to new restaurants, I like to eat home-cooked food made by my mom and sometimes I enjoy Mumbai’s local street food also.

What I really miss about Mumbai’s Durga Puja is the positivity and the synergy.

Theatre remains my first and last love and even when I am noot doing plays, I am associated with it in some way. For instance, I go to Mumbai University as a visiting faculty and talk about the medium.

I have known I was destined to live in Goa the moment I first stepped foot on the Panjim docks from the ferry from Mumbai, when I was 18.

I was the ball boy during the Mumbai Test of the home series against South Africa in 2000. I was playing Under-14 cricket.

When I am in Mumbai, I am called a director. In Chennai, I am called a hero. In the Telugu States, I am called a dance master.

I have several Gujarati friends in Mumbai, and I keep eating from their tiffin boxes whenever we meet. I love Gujarati food!

When I’m in Mumbai, I make sure I drop Vir to school and pick up as well. And I fit all my work within that time duration so that I can be as present a parent I can be.

I said no to too many projects in Mumbai because I felt that it wouldn’t have established me as an actor.

It was only after moving to Mumbai that I was completely seduced by Bollywood.

Diwali means family, so either I go down to Bangalore, or my family comes to Mumbai. I always ensure I take a few days off.

I have a restaurant in Sri Lanka, and I feel keen to open up something here in Mumbai and bring Sri Lankan food here in India. I feel we have so much in common, but we have a different cuisine, and I am sure people will enjoy here.

When I came to Mumbai, I didn’t know a soul. The only person I knew was an assistant director, which, everyone agrees, is the lowest form of life on the set. So, it was not a great contact to have. So, I knew from day one that I wasn’t going to be launched opposite a superstar.

When I came to Mumbai to audition for a dance reality show, I was in top 100. I doubted myself and did not get through. It was a lesson for me… After that day, whenever I used to go for auditions, I never doubted myself.

If the state requires a bullet train, I would demand a bullet train to connect Mumbai and Nagpur.

When I came to Mumbai from Dubai to become an actor, I used to entertain people at parties by showing some card tricks.

I am a Punjabi at heart, but I’ve been born & brought up in Mumbai and even did my schooling & graduation from Mumbai itself.

My whole family is in Bengaluru and I have nothing but my ambitions to live with in Mumbai.

I’ve visited Mangalore as a kid because we had relatives there. But I was born and brought up in Mumbai. So I don’t know much about the place or the people.

Los Angeles is much like Mumbai, the film industry rules the city over most other professions, so it feels like home.

I am not Padma Shri Manoj Bajpayee. I am Manoj Bajpayee, an outsider who saw dreams and stayed on the fringes of Mumbai and worked day and night to get work.

Later when I was in Mithibai College, Mumbai, I was a singer for a rock band.

My sister is just three years older than me, but I never understood her, and I could never relate to her. In fact, I used to feel that I will never be able to like her. But when I came to Mumbai, I started missing her.

I came to Mumbai in 2000 and have lived alone for 20 years.

Rohinton Mistry’s celebrated novel ‘Such a Long Journey’ was pulled off the syllabus of Mumbai University because local extremists objected to its content.

I came to Mumbai because I was in love with a girl.

I did 6-7 films as a child. But it was taking a toll on my studies. So I went back to being a full-time student at JB Petit here in Mumbai.

Mumbai is the kind of place where you learn how to be street smart… unless you’re way too overprotected.

In Delhi, I became a serious stage actor. Then, luckily, the FTII acting course began, and I studied there, spent some time working on my craft. In 2008, I moved to Mumbai, and then in one and a half years of so-called struggle, I got my first film, ‘Love Sex aur Dhokha’ (LSD).

When I told people in Dubai that I am going to leave my job here and head to Mumbai, they were convinced that I will not survive in the dust, grime, pollution.

I feel growing up in Mumbai is an advantage, as we grow up speaking so many languages that when we go abroad, it becomes easier to learn new languages.

I think every Delhi guy who comes to Mumbai has a huge Shah Rukh hangover. He has been so good with the variety of roles he has played in his career.

Sachin is the soul of Mumbai Indians, and I am sure he will guide Bhajji as he takes on the responsibility of captaining Mumbai Indians.

Mumbai is not safe anymore.

We go to parties in pajamas. And that is true of a lot of people in Mumbai.

Actors should stop complaining about nepotism. I am uneducated – I was asked to leave school in Class 11. I came to Mumbai with only Rs 300, yet there is no one in this industry who has not been nice to me. From filmmakers who have given me work to people who have given me advice, I feel blessed to have them in my life.

If there is a new airport in Mumbai, I would feel proud about it, and I equally feel angry when I see potholes.

My mother used to call me everyday after moving to Mumbai and would tell me to take up this course or join some distance learning course and to please do my Masters, but, yeah… I didn’t do it.

I realized you cannot stay away from Mumbai and pursue your dreams.

Though I adored Delhi, Mumbai was in my veins and I felt connected to this city and had to come back.

When I came to Mumbai to act and it didn’t work out for me for few years, I thought I will go back to training but casting room has been a great training space for me.

Before I moved here, I had no desire to become a dancer. But when I saw the dance schools in the city and the massive opportunities, I decided to give it a shot. Mumbai being a land of unlimited possibilities gave me the confidence to go for it.

We are seeing a changed Mumbai, but having showcased Dharavi in ‘Slum Dog Millionaire’ brought shame and disgrace to our city. Whenever the firangs visit Mumbai, they must visit Dharavi; it has become a sightseeing spot. However, I feel saddened about it.

At the age of 16, I ran from my house, did odd jobs till l landed work on television and then in film industry. My first job was at an STD booth in Delhi. Then I came to Mumbai, where I distributed DVDs, and that is when I got my first TV show offer, ‘Left Right Left.’ I have never planned things in my career.