Mr Bachchan, you have a magnificent career spanning nearly 40 years with over 150 films to date. What is the secret to your success and what have been your personal highlights?

I would like to assume that I have had the good fortune to get some wonderful directors to work with. Every decade brings in some new approach, new directors, new faces, a newer generation wants to excel, and I have just been fortunate enough to have been asked by these gentlemen to work in their cinema. It has been very progressive in nature. the quality of cinema in India has been rapidly changing and I think that each generation has its own reason to make the kind of cinema it has made. The conditions in the country the conditions of the world important events that impress people, all this goes into creating the kind of stories that we have. For an actor it is wonderful to be getting different opportunities, different kinds of roles to do, I have always been playing the leading men for a very long time and now at 65 it's interesting to see they are still wanting me to work as strong characters which do become more central and that is what is happening now. I hope it continues because it would be terrible for any actor to stagnate. I hope that I can get inspired by their efforts and their desire to work with me.

After rave reviews at the Toronto Film festival, how do you feel about The Last Lear premiering in UK at the London Film Festival today? You had an amazing reception.

I am very new to film festivals, this has not been my genre so I don't really know anything about it. I work in commercial cinema and commercial cinema doesn't get too much recognition at film festivals but it has been very exciting. I love the atmosphere, I love the opportunity it gives the host nation and the host people to watch cinema from all over the world, the opportunity to interact with directors and personalities, just a very warm friendly endearing atmosphere.

Your character Harry felt like he had accomplished everything he could in his film career. Do you feel you have accomplished everything you have wanted to?

I hope not because if I had that would be the end of acting. I would want to continue and every day I would want to get an opportunity to do something different. I would kill my creativity if I was to stop.

How did you relate to your character Harry? Is there a little bit of you in him?

We're both actors. He was a little arrogant because of the fact that he was from theatre and they tend to look down upon people who are in film, they have an ego, they have different standards, of who they are and I think it was that irony that was brought out so beautifully in the film.

Did you study Shakespeare at school or did you have to study him for the film and how did you find his work? Do you enjoy Shakespeare?

Everybody studies Shakespeare at school to an extent but I didn't go out my way deliberately to study it.

This is your first English language film role. How does this differ from doing a film in Hindi?

It's just a language, cinema is cinema, it's universal. Most of us speak a lot of English in India so there's really no difference in expressing something, we're doing that in real life anyway.

I read that you penned some of your own Hindi dialogue for the film. Is writing or directing something you would like to branch out into?

No that's not true, it was written in English and they wanted it written in Hindi so I merely translated it was it was very short pieces of dialogue. No I don't want to write or direct.

You're a huge star outside of India. You have a waxwork at Madame Tussauds and are recognised all over the world. How do you feel about your global success and how has it effected you?

I don't feel so much about myself but for the fact that Indian cinema is reaching out to so many people. I believe that we have the content, I believe that we have the talent, we don't have the money but I think that with a larger reach, larger exposure to other parts of the world, hopefully there will be more viewings, and give us the opportunity to match the best in the world.

The Indian film industry is very different today then it used to be 20 years ago. It is more recognised globally. How do you see Indian cinema going forward?

I think there is a great amount of interest in making quality film, there is a great amount of interest in not wanting to see the typical formatted commercial escapist cinema, there is a huge amount of patronage to films that are different which do not necessarily carry big stars and that do not have the big budget backing. This bodes well, it means that the audiences are becoming a lot more discerning, it could be due to the advent of the multiplexes in India and I hope it continues because it is wonderful to know that there is a large audience that appreciates and wants to accept and allow.

You're currently working with Mira Nair on 'Shantaram' which stars Johnny Depp and will have a huge international release. How does it feel to branch out into Hollywood?

We haven't started working on the film yet but it is wonderful of Mira to ask me to do this. It's an interesting subject, it's an interesting role. I can only talk more about this once I start working which will be next year.

You dabbled in politics back in the 80's for a few years. How was the experience and do you have any plans to go back to politics?

No, no, politics, I resigned, I don't know politics and I will never go back there again.