Actor Suniel Shetty turned 65 on August 11 and penned a heartfelt note on LinkedIn recently, reflecting on how his priorities towards work have evolved over the years. The actor now opens up about navigating the industry at his age and what continues to shape his career.

“Even now, I’m not easily available. I’ve made sure that I only associate with people I believe will help me grow and do something that leaves a positive impact on people,” Suniel shares, adding that his relevance also comes from his positive approach to life. “I’m very content, happy and very secure and that is basically the relevance.”

The actor, who was last seen in Welcome To The Jungle and reportedly has an action film in the pipeline with Tiger Shroff, also reflects on embracing his age and working alongside the younger generation. “Accepting roles which were age appropriate is the only reason I’ve landed myself into this position, because there’s no point competing with kids half your age who are better looking, better built, and masters of their craft,” he says adding that this philosophy extends beyond the screen into his life as well.

“I’ve accepted it very gracefully, be it in my role of a husband, a son, a father or a grandfather. I’m consistently working on myself, thus I’ve perhaps delayed the process of ageing, but it’s nothing to be shy about. Wrinkles will always be there and that is a part of my life now,” he says.

Once the poster boy of masculine protagonists in Hindi cinema, Suniel further reflects on how the portrayal of masculinity has evolved in Bollywood, with alpha and hypermasculine heroes taking centre stage.

Comparing it with the ’90s, he says, “The scripts were alpha then. They were very strong character-wise. It was for the love of the country, the uniform, the mother, sister and family, and that was the alpha male. It’s a bit negative today probably because there is too much violence, as we want to make it as real and gruesome as possible. The ’90s films weren’t as gruesome. Sometimes, it’s difficult to even watch a complete action scene because of the blood and gore in it, and that’s the only thing that I don’t like about films today,” he ends.