I’m someone who likes to question things that are put in front of me, I like to think I’m someone who asks ‘why sir?’ not a ‘yes sir.’
I was a quiet kid. I was very introverted, believe it or not. I never spoke above a whisper. I was always, ‘Yes sir.’ I was raised that way.
Anant Nag and Vishuvardhan sir are two of the best actors with whom I have worked.
A fan once stopped me outside a theatre and gave me as a gift a signed photograph of Sir Laurence Olivier. It was strange, but nice, too.
In this industry, people want a ‘yes sir’ attitude. But ad men usually have a chip on their shoulders. We have more money and are more successful. We call everyone by the first name. My assistants call me Vivek but I don’t care.
I am grateful to Rahman sir. There is no way I can repay the graces he has extended to me by making me sing his compositions.
Yes, sir, I was in the processing room watching them actually process the film.
Sir Rodin convinced my parents to have me committed; they are all in Paris to arrange it.
Working with Chiranjeevi sir, I realized the professionalism and attitude they used work with. It’s just so contagious. When such a personality is doing that, everyone around, too, would do that out of respect. Work was far more efficient, smoother.
The thing I liked most about Puri Sir is that he was so relaxed on the sets. So everyone else was also relaxed. Since there was no stress, one worked better.
I have great respect for him. Sir Alex has won many trophies and is the most important manager in the world.
In our comic cons and interviews, they’re always asking him questions, of course, because people love Jean-Luc Picard. They love Sir Patrick Stewart. But he always likes to stop everyone and go, Wait, but these new characters, I can’t wait for you to meet these new people.’ He very much always tries to make space for us.
I’ve the highest respect and regards for Shankar sir. He has taken Tamil cinema to a new level. I would have loved to work with him, but there are some date hassles.
Will you tell me, ‘Oh, painting is a special art, whereas anyone can write prose passably well’? Can he, indeed? … Can you, sir? Nay, believe me, you are either an archangel or a very bourgeois gentleman indeed if you admit to having spoken English prose all your life without knowing it.
I went to a military school, so I’m always talking like ‘Yes, sir,’ or ‘No, ma’am.’ I was doing that even before military school, so I’ve always had it, I guess.
Rahman sir was the first music director I met and I was very nervous after meeting him. I made him listen to some of my songs nervously and he told me that my tone is good but I required working on the maturity of my voice with respect to my age. That was the golden advice I got from him.
I had really good experience working with Ritesh Batra and Nawaz sir. It was a huge thing for me to work with Nawaz sir because he is my favorite actor.
I still find it a bit surreal that Sir Elton John can call Troy Deeney from Chelmsley. It’s quite entertaining but a bit surreal.
Look at the greatest dressers in history – Philadelphia socialite and diplomat Angier Biddle Duke, Sir Anthony Eden, Fred Astaire, the Duke of Windsor, John F. Kennedy, and Gary Cooper – they all sport the well placed pocket adornment.
If you don’t have my army supplied, and keep it supplied, we’ll eat your mules up, sir.
Vita Sackville-West is one of my favorite female icons. She was a writer and a prolific gardener, but she also had a relationship with Virginia Woolf, and she was married to Sir Harold Nicolson. She was a woman who lived outside of norms.
Sir Derek Jacobi has been an inspiration to so many actors and audiences throughout his brilliant career. To see him in Shakespeare is an event in itself.
There is a myth that Rahman sir only works at night. He works through the day and night, so it depends what time slot you end up working with him. Besides nights, I have sung for him in the morning and at noon, too. I think he’s the first composer to work at night, and that’s why it’s spoken about so much.
No, sir, I’m not saying that charming, witty and warm copy won’t sell. I’m just saying I’ve seen thousands of charming, witty campaigns that didn’t sell.
The broad outlines of the Double Cross deception have been known since 1972, when Sir John Masterman, the former chairman of the double agent committee, controversially published his account of the operation in defiance of official secrecy.
I have been a few times to Manchester United to have a look. I got a tour and spoke with Sir Alex Ferguson. Being a 15-year-old and being able to talk with him is great!
Manchester United is a world-famous club, and yet if you say, ‘Manchester United,’ then immediately you think of Sir Alex Ferguson. To have achieved so much and have so much importance at such a big club is extremely rare.
By the time I was 14, I had seen only three Tamil films – ‘Anjali,’ ‘Bombay,’ and ‘Puthiya Mugam.’ And I loved the music in the films. When I found out Rahman sir was the man behind the music, I made up my mind that I wanted to sing for him.
I come from a small village called Murud Janjira near Alibaug. I started doing theatre right from school days and later joined the Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art, after which I joined an advertising agency.
I was brought up in a household with sir and ma’am.
Many, many years ago, I stood on the stage and told bad jokes and did Sophie Tucker as an impersonation, and nobody looked up; and suddenly, I looked down and said, ‘Sir, I’m getting fed up with you. Either you watch, or I’m going to suck your neck,’ or words to that effect, and suddenly people started to laugh.
I thought Anurag sir would be strict, and I had certain kind of perception about him, but he was warm and interactive.
Akshay sir is very good at comedy. He has so much energy in him. He not only expresses with his dialogues but also his body. He is like Mr Bean.
Rajini sir’s character in ‘Petta’ is inspired from the same name from Tamil film ‘Mullum Malarum.’
I always said as a kid that I’d like to play for United, and I once spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson about it. We chatted for around 20 minutes, and I told him that my dream was to come here to Manchester United.
I grew up idolising Rajinikanth, and I’ve always wanted to see him in a certain way. When I knew I was going to write for Rajini sir, I wanted to show him in the most stylish way and bring back his mannerisms and machismo.
Faith, sir, we are here today, and gone tomorrow.
The speed at which cinema is changing, the definition of hero is also changing. Even a big superstar like Aamir sir plays the role of a father. There’s action genre, where you have to show body and do stunts, so you may call that a hero.
It is all about experience. When you are 7-8 years old, you start playing school cricket and score runs; my coaches, from school level to Rahul Dravid Sir now, all those small, small things – the experiences make a difference.
While I have got to work with someone as experienced as Ajay Devgn sir in my first film, it is exciting to work with a promising actor like Meezaan in my second.
Actually Maddy is my name. But I feel that whenever you address somebody, there needs to be certain amount of dignity rendered to it – irrespective of whether it’s a film star or somebody you are fond of. I find it very pleasing when somebody refers to me as ‘Mr. Madhavan’ or ‘Sir’ or ‘Mr. Maddy.’
Sir Terry Pratchett – he was knighted in 2009, and on him it looked earned rather than entitled – wrote about dragons, wizards, turtles, witches, time-travelling monks, and suitcases with legs.
It was a pleasure to work alongside Sir David Attenborough and Hans Zimmer.
We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power… the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
There is a lot one can learn from Akshay sir, if one needs to learn punctuality and how to shoot in time, one should learn that from Akshay Kumar.
Sir, allusion has been made, in an early stage of this debate, to the history of the excitement which once pervaded a considerable part of the country, in reference to the transportation of the mails on the Lord’s day.
He is really something. I love him. He is Sir Arsene Wenger.
I loathe all political parties, which I regard as inventions of the devil. My favourite prime minister was Sir Alec Douglas-Home, not because he was on the Right, but because he spent a year in office without, on his own admission, doing a damned thing.
I am a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan sir, so I also know what it feels like to be a fan.
Nobody’s ever called me Sir Richard. Occasionally in America, I hear people saying Sir Richard and think there’s some Shakespearean play taking place. But nowhere else anyway.
Working with Anurag sir was always a dream. He is the person I started my journey with.
I get a lot of fan mail addressed to Bilbo and sometimes Sir Bilbo – it’s hardly ever addressed to Ian Holm, in fact. My business manager drafts the replies, and then I pop in to the office and sign them, ‘Bilbo!’
It was a completely different experience working on ‘Chhichhore’ with Nitesh sir. The way he narrates and the way he directs actors is completely unique. He has that rare quality of blending a great story with finely-etched characters and an underlying message.
