I’ll go do films for three or four months and then I can’t wait to go home to LA. And I complain about LA left and right, but then I always end up wanting to go home, you know?
Never take no for answer, and try to make films that turn you on.
In my career, many a times I was not able to be part of many films, and there were many reasons for them. But I don’t know why people still talk only about why I didn’t do ‘Bahubali 1’ and ‘2.’
I don’t see anything wrong with my films in 2016, except maybe ‘Kadalai’ and ‘Parandhu Sella Vaa.’ I did do a lot of different roles.
I would say that no film is apolitical. There are politics in all films. Any film that is anchored in a society, any film that deals with humanity is necessarily political.
I never thought of becoming a director. When I was twelve, the passage from silent film to the talkies had an impact on me – I still watch silent films.
I have never planned my career. I chose those films with which I could relate myself. But if given a chance, I would love to do the kind of roles Meryl Streep has done.
‘Pi’ was one of my favorite films growing up because I thought it employed paranoia and voice-over, and also because it used this unreliable narrator in a very fascinating way.
You see thousands of films you forget the minute you come out of the cinema, don’t you? Because they don’t mean anything. It’s the tough ones like ‘Breaking the Waves’ and ‘Nil By Mouth’ that stay with you, that you never forget. I’d like to leave a few of those behind if possible.
When I got a call from Hansal Mehta, the CEO of White Feathers, asking me to come for one of their films, I was very happy. I thought they’d have an interesting role for me. But when I got to know they just wanted me to stand in for Sanjay Dutt for some scenes, I decided to give this offer the pass.
When I was 19, 20 I faced rejections. When I turned 20 I signed my south film and by the time I was 23, I had done three south films. I would go to different production houses everyday for auditions and they would reject me saying you cant talk, smile, dance or act.
Some of the greatest films and television have only been seen by the people that make them. And some of the greatest music is only heard by the people who make it.
I don’t want to make films for myself.
I am not in a position to play in action films bashing hundreds of goons with one hand. I feel I am not really fit for high-voltage action films.
I don’t make films that are easy to market, unfortunately. I think that ‘Pi’ was the easiest one, because we had that symbol to stick up everywhere, so that was a good gimmick, and created a good mystery, and we didn’t have to do huge scale.
I suffer from stage fright, so I blabber on stage and stop midway through my performances. I cannot even write a cheque, as it makes me nervous. Being around people makes me nervous. But I’m very comfortable in front of the camera, and this I realised many films later.
Keeping it all normal and keeping us together is my first priority. Then I fit films into my life.
I tried my hand in action films, and now I am back to love stories, as people like to see me as a lover boy! But as an actor, I want to try all genres.
There is no good or bad cinema, there are films that connect either less or more with audience.
The choreography in films is completely different. I find it easier when I am asked to dance to classical music, but it’s a different ball game altogether.
Working with Suriya is like a dream-come-true moment for me. I’ve been following Suriya’s films right from my childhood.
I think that films about faith made for faith-based communities have a certain tactic.
I like films to have something inside, I don’t mean a message, I mean something from the soul.
I do films for the common man and identify myself one among them.
You’ll see more violence in any television crime series than you will in my films… Art is there to have a stimulating effect, if it earns its name. You have to be honest, that’s the only thing.
I like to do films that celebrate life.
That was the magical thing about the Seventies: artists ruled. Because films were relatively low-budget, nobody cared. We could just go off and work.
To me, ‘Educating Rita’ is the most perfect performance I could give of a character who was as far away from me as you could possibly get and of all the films I have ever been in, I think it may be the one I am most proud of.
It is an entirely selfish decision to turn producer because I want my kind of cinema to last and flourish, and helping young filmmakers make those kind of films is the best way to do it.
When I started out in independent films in the early ’70s, we did everything for the love of art. It wasn’t about money and stardom. That was what we were reacting against. You’d die before you’d be bought.
I didn’t fall in love with acting until I did a few films. Now, I couldn’t live without it.
If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
We all make films to be hits.
Many of the best films made about war have come out after the wars have ended. People need a period of time to reflect on them.
One of my earlier films is ‘Quigley Down Under.’ That was early on in my career, and that was horsey.
If ‘Trek’ is a hit, we’d love to do a series of films – a regular event. Look at James Bond’s films. They’ve been around since the early sixties.
Once in a while, I need to go out of my way to do different films, to exploit all commercial angles to cater to the masses.
Comparison is a disease. I never felt any competition, since I never compared myself to others. I only focus on my work. I never feel pressurised and do films in my style. Also, I’m very active since childhood, and that gives me the edge to always put my best.
I don’t understand this concept of women-oriented films or stories based on women, because nobody uses the term, a ‘man-oriented’ film. Why do you have to separate girls from boys?
Even when I was working in 30 films a year I was doing 20 plays a month.
I like watching films when I don’t know anything about the people.
If Martin Scorsese calls, I am available. And then there the ones, well, you can just run down the list – any of those Oscar-nominated films, they have amazing directors across the board.
I’m something of a history buff. It’s deliberate that a lot of my films have been period pieces.
A producer wouldn’t think of making a film about ballet dancers without using real dancers, but they will cast actors who have never held a bat in baseball films.
I always loved films, and when I decided to go to film school, it was with the excuse that I would go into making commercials, because that would be a proper profession, and people wouldn’t think I was crazy.
’25th Hour,’ like a lot of my films, takes place in New York City. I’ve been very fortunate to make films in the city that I live. I mean, it’s great going home at night instead of being on location.
The only movie that I would ever even consider retrofitting is the first ‘Jurassic Park,’ which I think would look pretty spectacular in 3D. That’s the only one of my films that I would consider doing in 3D.
I started buying films a couple of years ago. The first film-maker I began to obsessively collect was Andy Milligan. He was a New York frustrated artist.
In the last ten years of watching films I have found that some of the foreign films I saw affected me most. One American film that stands out for me for its workmanship and artistry is ‘Ratatouille.’ It was an astonishing effort in filmmaking.
Despite erasure by the media and other patriarchal institutions, there was, by 1975, a substantial body of feminist writings as well as artwork, music, films, and organization of all kinds.
There is nothing better than playing a bad girl for two months, then turning around and playing someone sweet. Films give you this opportunity.
Maybe I should be making more mainstream films if I want to get some money.
I think I am kind of put on this Earth to speak of being between worlds in my films.
I think that most films have too much music in them; it overwhelms an audience.
Not bragging by any means, but I could have done a lot of other stuff as far as working in films go and working in television… I had chances to do that stuff, but I like baseball, I really do.
I liked the ’28 Days Later’ films, but they’re not zombies; they’re not dead. They’re not using it in the same way.
I love ‘Titanic’, I love ‘Romeo & Juliet’, those are my favourite films, and so it’s crazy to think that people wouldn’t connect with ‘Feel Good’, it’s just a love story.
I want my films to do the talking. I feel if people have to understand me better, I should do more good films. I just want them to know me through my films.
Playing different characters in different films helps keep you excited about what you do. It always seems like a whole new adventure.
My wish is to bring my heroes to the big screen, and many of them have already appeared in my films.
There’s always something at least a little smug about self-reference – magazine articles about idealistic journalists, TV shows about TV actors, ironic films within ironic-er films: all this meta-media populated by thinly disguised characters making oblique inside jokes.
