Top 50 Mahesh Manjrekar Quotes

I did quite a lot of television episodes with B.P. Singh. He used to stay near me and we would travel together. He had a car and while going back home we would discuss about the stories, the dialogues, etc. Whatever he taught me was more than enough to start a film.

I like to sing but I am nothing great.

Whatever age you are in, there are always complications in every relationship.

I realized after my first play that no one was going to offer me roles for theatre. So I started my own theatre company even though I was in deep debt in 1988.

Bollywood is never going to take a backseat for me because I have nothing against it. But I have decided that I make at least one Marathi film a year.

I don’t make Mills & Boons kind of films.

‘Astitva’ is all about a woman’s search for her identity in a male-dominated world. It is not a feminist kind of approach. Rather, I have tried hold a mirror to the men in our society.

When I signed the contract, I told Salman I am doing ‘Bigg Boss’ in Marathi. He was more than happy and is hopeful I will enjoy doing it.

One night, at 2:30 A. M., I got a call from Salman Khan. And when I answered the call, he asked me if I will host ‘Bigg Boss’ Marathi. As I was in deep sleep, I don’t even know when I said a yes. Also, the next morning, I wasn’t sure if it was a dream or reality and eventually I forgot too.

At the end of the day, everything boils down to money and if the film doesn’t do well, then there’s no point.

I don’t see cinema suffering because of OTT. We should not lose our sleep thinking OTT will finish the future of cinema halls, it won’t.

The fight to grab eyeballs for Marathi films is intense because a majority of Maharashtrians speak Hindi and there’s no undivided loyalty to their native language among them.

As for the method of making films, I would say that there are no rules as such. The only thing important is that you should have the confidence to do it and have a good story.

I am a very close friend of Sanjay Dutt and people still remind us of our film ‘Vaastav.’

Hey, I do take breaks between my shooting schedules! But then, my schedules are like a month long.

Love is love, be it any age. But the problem arises when instead of communicating in person, you are on your phone. Why do you have to send hearts to the person you love? Simply pick up the phone and say ‘I love you.’

I act because I get money. Half the time I quote an exorbitant amount because I don’t want to act. And sometimes it works.

Salman is a man with the most humble heart. I love to be with him.

Amitabh doesn’t surprise me because he has been there, done that.

I do films that affect me, my family, my friends. I need to be affected by what I am showing.

I have been doing Marathi theatre for the past 15 years. The people there are very hardworking, talented and committed. But the state of Marathi cinema is going from bad to worse.

Priyanka Chopra has produced a Marathi film. Even John Abraham announced he wants to make a Marathi film. Suddenly everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon. Shah Rukh, Rohit Shetty also want to do a Marathi film. There is an awareness. But I hope they don’t come and spoil the market by making their kind of cinema.

I was far away from Marathi literature, theatre, arts, everything. I was a late entrant to it.

I don’t get hassled when I am doing a role that looks idiotic to me.

I don’t have the patience… an angry man cannot get into politics.

I was waiting for a right script and then I got a script which I could write and tell the story the way I want to. And that film is ‘Antim.’

For ‘Astitva,’ I needed actors who were good and committed and could portray the character’s growth over a period of time – from 21 to 47 years.

Most of the plays in Marathi theatre are for the middle aged or are family dramas.

The industry and audience always expects filmmakers to do everything morally right. Why? We are all here to do business.

I don’t try to find similarities with my characters because then it becomes difficult to act.

Working with people like Deepti Naval and Siddharth Malhotra is always a delight because they understand the craft and the script is their topmost priority.

The fact that ‘Bigg Boss’ doesn’t require any script is phenomenal as then you get caught between lines; here I can be all out and express my true emotions.

I believe it’s so important to love life, enjoy it for its small moments and live without regrets – life is so unpredictable.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was as good or as bad any Bollywood film. If I had to rate it, I would give it just 5.5 points out of 10. Unlike others, I am not gung-ho about the film winning so many Oscars. Yes, I am happy that I was a part of the project, but I am yet to figure out why it got so many Oscars.

I don’t think there is a better human being than Salman. He is always there for you, just a call away. I have never seen a more rooted guy than him.

Audiences make up their minds to see only certain films. They see the rest on cable after two weeks.

When my daughter went to school, her last name was mine. The school insisted that her father’s name be added to hers, not her mother’s. The fact that the mother kept her in her womb for nine months is forgotten. Women don’t have an identity. She has her father’s name today and will have her husband’s tomorrow.

There was time I was 105 kg, and whenever I used to see myself in the mirror, I used to ask myself, ‘What is this?’ So there was only one solution and that is controlling your diet and then hit the gym.

If I knew what the audience wants to hear I would be the richest guy in the world! There are a lot of people who think they know what the audience wants but are sadly rejected.

It is not easy acting and directing yourself because you have to face the camera as well as look at the scene through the lens.

Sometimes we might feel that a soldier’s duty is to protect us and he doesn’t have any emotions, but he has. He is vulnerable and close to his family just like us. But what makes him different from us is the fact that he has the will to die so that we are safe.

Nothing can replace cinema halls.

I believe that being fit is more important than being successful.

Marathi film producers conveniently blame the audience. If there are 70-odd flops in a year, there are a few that are hit because the same audience comes to the theatres.

In many ways, Bengalis and Marathis happen to be very similar. Both love theatre, literature and seafood.

I did not choose ‘Kaksparsh,’ the film chose me.

I am a little disillusioned with Hindi cinema direction. I can experiment with Marathi. But Marathi doesn’t give you a lot of money.

Harmesh Malhotra’s ‘Nigahen’ is said to be a sequel to his ‘Nagina.’ But in reality, the characters in the second film did not flow out of the first.

Army wives sacrifice a lot, we need to salute them because no matter what, they always put up a brave face.

Audience today like an honest approach to cinema; if you try to please the audience they come to know.