"I was born in Lucknow 1938, 4 February. It was Friday. A hot day as it usually happens in spring...in that home where I was born there were only girls. I was the only boy. So our neighbours came saw that that there were all girls and just one boy... like Krishna and gopis they used to say. So my name became Brijmohan Misra. Brij is the name of the city where Krishna was born and ‘Mohan ‘means attraction. Brijmohan is a way of saying Krishna, the god of love and dance."

"Earlier one person would do a sam and the audience ten feet away knew that a new tukda was about to begin but now fifty of us did the same movement with the same precision; the audience even two hundred feet away knew and understood. Yes, we connected to many because we were many presenting one. We simply enlarged ourselves by being many more of us and we engulfed the stage."

"Brijmohan Maharaj’s Kamdeva matched grace with grace. To the loving he added fear, and a secret knowledge of his fate. Together they devised a poignancy that was memorable and must surely be rare in dance."

"Solo dance was complete by one. Now because everybody is bored, feeling bored by one dancer only they are taking 10,20 people."

"Lata was beyond words. She was a miracle that will never happen never again."

"India's greatest playback singer Lata Mangeshkar who sang for him [Naushad] in the film."

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while paying his tributes to the legendary singer, said, “I am anguished beyond words. The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled. The coming generations will remember her as a stalwart of Indian culture, whose melodious voice had an unparalleled ability to mesmerise people.”"

"“The whole of India sings in the voice of Maharashtra, and that voice is of Lata Mangeshkar,” said veteran journalist P. K. Atre once, when asked about the musical contributions of the Mangeshkar family to the nation."

"I consider it my honour that I have always received immense affection from Lata Didi. My interactions with her will remain unforgettable. I grieve with my fellow Indians on the passing away of Lata Didi. Spoke to her family and expressed condolences. Om Shanti."

"In fact, veteran politician LK Advani said, “Lata ji has been my all time favourite among popular singers and I feel fortunate to have shared a long association with her. I recall the time when she recorded a beautiful Shri Ram Bhajan and sent it to me when I was about to undertake my Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya. That memorable song–“Ram Naam Mein Jaadu Aisa, Ram Naam Man Bhaaye, Man Ki Ayodhya tab tak sooni, jab tak Ram Na aaye…”became the signature tune of my Yatra.”.”"

"Lata Mangeshkar was known to have been a sympathiser of the Hindutva ideology. In fact, she was a sympathiser of the pro-Hindu Mahasabha, which is a hardcore rightist organisation. Despite that she was given various awards by governments of varying political hues only and only for her mind-boggling contribution to film music."

"When I speak, my Urdu isn’t very good but when I sing I make sure there are no flaws in my diction."

"I first listen to someone who speaks the language and who reads the lyrics to me. I pay great attention to pronunciation. Once I hear the words spoken, I write the song lines phonetically in Hindi and then sing. By the grace of god, my songs in other languages – including Bengali – have been appreciated. People say they are good and the words have been correctly pronounced."

"Mohd Rafi saab and I fought over royalty rights. At a meeting attended by prominent singers and musicians, he stood up and said, Main aaj se Lata ke saath nahin gaoonga. I retorted, Rafi saab, 'ek minute. Aap nahin gaayenge mere saath yeh galat baat hai. Main aapke saath nahin gaoongee. I stormed out and called all my composers there and then and informed them to rope in another singer if it was a duet with Rafi saab."

"I went to the temple, not to pay homage to Lord Mangesh, but on a sort of pilgrimage to see the place where you were born."

"It was not really the external influences that made me a singer. Music was within me. I was full of it"

"People should be blessed in life with friends who are both "Mirrors & Shadows"! Mirrors don't lie & shadows never leave."

"If he says that I am the voice of the century, then I would say that he is the writer of the century."

"He was my hero in Ghulam. After that there was a long gap until Mangal Pandey. In between he did want me for Lagaan. Today, we're very close friends. The equation is different. I remembered how he used to show me to do scenes. He still tells me how to do my scenes."

"It's not important to me... people will see my films if they want to. Also, I cannot deal with so many things, I have bandwidth only for that much."

"I would love to work with Salman. We have a great tuning so if we work together, it will be great fun. But till the time we don't get a good script, a script that excites both of us, we can't work together."

"Indian film awards lack credibility."

"Aamir Khan is an intelligent actor with an eye for detail. He places the film above every individual or ego."

"Certainly we were disappointed. But the thing that really kept us in our spirits was that the entire country was behind us."

"Shammiji is said to be India's answer to Elvis Presley, but I say that Elvis Presley is America's answer to Shammi Kapoor. The mark of a good actor is the belief with which he gives a shot and Shammiji gave his each shot with a strong belief and that makes him a great actor of all times."

"In the last two years there was a brief period that he decided to quit the films as it is affecting his personal life in many ways."

"Mumtaz was sensitive, quick to understand and translate every nuance I hinted at, onto the screen, but she was always Dara Singh's Heroine for public. Even Devsaab (Dev Anand) could not get over that image."

"On her passion for acting: "I used to feel a sort of emptiness before I started acting but not any longer... If I were not an actress, I’d have gone crazy.""

"”I am bored to talk of my films. I cannot even bear to see most of them.”"

"Women are meant to be loved and not understood."

"My kids were in boarding school. I was a bit bored of just jet setting from one country to another. So I came to India to do Aandhiyaan for a lark. I think it was one of David Dhawan's best films, even better than Aankhen. But I was heartbroken when it flopped."

"Mumtaz was in the Marilyn Monroe-mould - every man's fantasy woman. She is or was, the kind of woman any man would want to pamper and bury in diamonds, silks, satins... She had a courtesan kind of charm. Absolutely top marks go to her as greatest sex symbol. She was cute, impish, voluptuous. The way she used her body was so natural. She looked juicy! Her smile, her eyes, her pug nose, she was all woman. I don't think anyone else projected sexuality the way she did. She was a raving beauty, and in person too, was very attractive. A great smile, a great sense of humour, and a very no-nonsense down-to-earth manner. She was one woman who did not antagonise other women. And I'm sure every man she met lusted after her. She seemed immensely beddable."

"Nothing on earth can ruin my relationship with Salim uncle's family. Not many people know that my mother and Salman's father have acted in a film together. I've known the family for donkey's years. Salman and I have grown up together. If he sulks with me or acts tough, I can kick his ass. There can't be any problem between us."

"[Recalling a serious accident he went through] I feel I couldn't go through with the traumatic time if it wasn't for Salman Khan . He not only stood by me, but made sure that I resumed shooting within six days of the fire. He dropped in twice on the sets after I returned to shoot just to see if all was okay. Salman is and always will be my dearest friend and my brother."

"However, the fact that Mushrif has to apologise for giving his community good news from Gujarat, gives us an idea of the kind of intellectual terror Congress and its “secular” allies have come to exercise among Muslims. They must appear as permanent victims in the Congress scheme of things or else be declared traitors as happened with Salman Khan, who dared speak a few mild words in favour of Modi’s regime or, worse still, be bulldozed into silence as happened with Maulana Vastanvi."

"Priyanka Chopra"

"Preity Zinta"

"Shilpa Shetty"

"Ameesha Patel"

"Diya Mirza"

"Bipasha Basu"

"I'm a huge Salman fan. I`m not just waiting; I`m dying to work with him. And he has huge fan following at my office. My writers and directors are a smitten bunch. They tell me, take your time signing him for a film, but please just call him to the office so we can interact, click pics and chat with him."

"Shah Rukh Khan"

"Hrithik Roshan"

"Aamir Khan"

"On Sonakshi Sinha"

"Ram Charan and Chiranjeevi"

"On Rani Mukerji"

"Akshay Kumar"

"[When asked about his film release on Eid or Diwali] The best time to release a film is on a festive date like Divali or Eid, or at a time when there are no big films three to four weeks before or after."