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It’s a funny feeling to think of those wild days, rather my wild ways (laughs) in the West. I was young and kicking (read dancing) then. And can you imagine my favourite haunt were the casinos in London! I would be sleepless after losing money in the casinos. Once I walked into a pharmacy in London and asked the girl at the counter if she could suggest a sleeping tablet. Amused, she wanted to know the reason. I replied the casinos were the cause. She simply said, ‘Don’t gamble with your health’.

I now look forward to evenings at the health club in Sun-n-Sand hotel in Mumbai. I workout at the gym regularly. It’s not for fitness alone; it’s more for spending time with good old friends Rakesh Roshan, Prem Chopra, Sujit Kumar and a few others. On Sundays, we spend long hours playing cards and having lunch together.

Holidays were a must when life was about greasepaint and gruelling shooting schedules. It was the only time you spent with family. Every year I would to take off for a month to Srinagar with my wife, children and parents. Sometimes a few other relatives would join in. We stayed at the Oberoi Palace Hotel, a fabulous place. Once the maharaja’s residence, the hotel offered a great view, lovely rooms, good food, had a huge lawn with a fountain and there was a lake nearby. A perfect family getaway!

I travelled far and wide as an actor but no place interested me then as much as home. I longed to come back to my family. Now when I have all the time, my children are too busy with their work. Family outings are a thing of the past.

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