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In India, it's hard not to have Gandhi as a hero. To give up everything - including power and money - and to live for his countrymen, that beats everything else. He's a role model of selflessness.

It is not important what Rahul Gandhi thinks, its important what a billion Indians think.

My main aim in 'Gandhi' was to project him as the vanguard of non-violence. Nowhere in the world has a movement of non-cooperation sans violence received so much support from masses as Gandhi's movement in India did. He was, to a great extent, responsible for freeing his nation from the British Raj.

Mahatma Gandhi was someone who demonstrated the tremendous power of leadership by example.

A Bollywood hero, for most people, has been a Raj, a Rahul or a Prem... it's now a part of the psyche.

I am a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.

There are many people making a difference. I mean, Dr. King never held an office. Gandhi never held an office. There are people who are archetypes in our society who have never held office and made a difference.

Ben Kingsley was my ideal choice for Gandhi, and he really lived up to the expectations of an international audience. I did not find any Indian actor worthy to perform the role of Gandhi in the early Eighties, though there were brilliant performers like Naseeruddin Shah in India.

It's very difficult to fill the shoes of somebody like Rahul Bhai. He has set the bench mark for a generation to come. However, it's our responsibility to carry forward his legacy.

I'm a very gentle man, not unlike Gandhi.