I was always an avid reader of books. My vocabulary, my English are all thanks to that reading habit. Reading keeps me grounded. I came from a very middle class family - poor, in fact.
My father was an electrical contractor, while I used to deliver video cassettes on a cycle to people in Juhu and Bandra, including celebrities like Mithun Chakraborty. Mithunda remembers me and is very proud of me. He can't believe that the guy who used to come to his house in short pants has become so successful.
Films are meant solely to provide entertainment. There are no lessons to be learnt and and inferences to be drawn. Has anyone become dutiful and law abiding after seeing a film that espouses these very virtues? Films can do no more than influence fashion, decor, and hairstyle trends.
My beliefs encompass all religions. But I never show my religious inclination in my films. My characters have dark sides; they aren't the god-fearing characters. It wasn't a conscious decision. I'm a very lazy and emotional person who connects with the common man.
While Hollywood has had a huge influence on the Indian industry, Bollywood and its actors, too, are garnering a lot of attention in the western film world.
I don't want to make 'Chandni Bar 2.' I didn't think 'Fashion 2' will happen. If a film ends on a high note... makes the audience think and lingers in the end... that is needed.
I like to leave a film open-ended, with a lingering feeling. I'll not do sequels of any of my films till I have subjects to explore.
I pick my actors primarily based on my gut-feel. They could be rank newcomers or established stars, but if I feel they'll do justice to my characters, they are on. I think Bollywood is now looking towards Kollywood for new faces, and, to my mind, Suriya will be a very successful crossover star because he's very versatile.
I am an emotional and fragile person. I observe life, I am perceptive and can read a person's body language. I have a strong journalistic streak in me, and had I not been a filmmaker, I would have become a film journalist. I have combined my perceptive and journalistic traits to create my own brand of cinema.
As I had visualized, 'Heroine' is shaping up to be a very contemporary film with a different premise and strata. This film, like most of my other films, is a blend of facts and fiction. The film has a larger span, more characters, and costumes... a journey that revolves around an actress's life and the showbiz.
I think as a filmmaker one should make all kinds of films. It is not that one should make only one kind of film. I love to see romantic films; I loved watching 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge,' 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.' If I make such films, I will make it with my yardstick, according to my parameters.
