Katrina, Aamir, Karan & Sush reveal who inspired

Katrina Kaif includes Salman Khan's family in her list of mentors



Aamir Khan credits his uncle Nasir Hussain as his guru



Sushmita Sen's inspirations range from Mother Teresa to Madonna



Chunky Pandey's guru is Dev Anand



Karan Johar says he's his own guru




Just like everyone else, T'town's brightest stars also had their hand held by their mentors. So on Teacher's Day (September 5), we got Bollywood celebrities to recall their gurus and inspirations, who shaped their careers in the industry.

Aamir Khan: "My guru was my uncle Nasir (Hussain) sahab, because I worked four years with him as assistant director. Even my debut as a child actor was in his film 'Yaadon Ki Baarat'. Aamir also wished that his late uncle could have seen his directorial debut 'Taare Zameen Par' (2007). "I will always regret that when I directed my first film 'Taare Zameen Par', my uncle had passed away. I always feel that if he had been there, he would have been very happy. I always miss him that way," said Aamir.

Sushmita Sen: "I have so many mentors in life as I get inspired by a lot of people - be it Mother Teresa or Madonna. I admire those people who can live life on their own... I don't like people who follow others."

Katrina Kaif: "(When it comes to my guru in Bollywood) there have been so many people - every member of the (Salman) Khan family, the directors whom I have worked with, Akshay (Kumar). There are so many people who have really stood by me in the beginning and always given me wonderful opportunities and chances for which I will forever be extremely grateful and appreciative."

Karan Johar: "My guru would be myself in the film fraternity."

Chunky Pandey: "My Bollywood guru has to be Dev Anand. I share my birthday with him and I hope to be as young as he is at his age and I plan to hang around with even younger girls than Dev saab does."

Manoj Bajpai: "I had my teacher in Barry John. He taught me theatre and everything in life. Whatever I am doing and I am today is because of him."

Gulshan Grover: "I consider Mahesh Bhatt and Umesh Mehra as my greatest teachers in Bollywood. They gave me great identities on the big screen and helped me make a mark for myself."

Subhash Ghai: "There have been a lot of people for me like Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt because of their cinematic terms and narrating power in their stories which inspired me to a great extent."

Nikhil Dwivedi: "Shah Rukh Khan is my teacher as I have learnt a lot from him and he is a great person and institution to learn from."

Pakhi: "I consider a lot of people my gurus - my mother is my guru in acting, my husband Abbas (Tyrewala) has been my teacher in writing and Sri Ravi Shankar is my guru in Art of Living. I have been lucky to get so many wonderful teachers who have made a difference to my life."

Shaan: "My gurus are all the great composers from 1970s and 1980s who are still and will always be the gurus of anyone associated with music in the Hindi film industry."

Siddharth Anand (Director of 'Anjaana Anjaani'): "Subhash Ghai, Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra - they are the three people I look up to and their films with awe."

Rituparna Sengupta: There has been no guru for me. I am self-made and hard working. I wish I had a guru, may be my progress would have been better (in Bollywood). I am only thankful to the opportunities coming my way and expecting something better.

Indo-Asian News Service