I have done 33 films in one year, for which I hold a Guinness Book World record. Plus I've done songs for all languages from Hindi to Malayalam, Punjabi to Telugu, and Kannada to Oriya.
I have done films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada. I don't find any difference.
Having done movies in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi, I have been accepted both in North and down South. I don't believe in divisions. I like to believe that I am working in the Indian film industry.
I am not really missing theatre as I get to act in films, that too in different languages, such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi, my mother tongue.
I have done 200 plus films in other languages.
Wanted' and 'Rowdy Rathore', which I directed in Hindi, were remakes of Telugu hits. Telugu films have contributed to my growth in a big way.
Somehow I feel South Indian actors are not that well known in the Hindi belt. Tamil and Telugu actors have an upper hand. But Kannada and Kerala are totally sidelined by Hindi filmgoers.
Apart from English, I speak my mother tongue Malayalam, as well as Tamil, Telugu, and a bit of Kannada and French.
I was eight years old when I was offered a film. And before I knew it, I was acting in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu movies.
I have sung a couple of songs in Telugu and Hindi films, but I was not happy with that. So, I thought of doing an album. I do not know how people will react.
We dabble in the regional market and have tapped into it with some amount of success. Be it Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam or even Bhojpuri music, we have explored all possibilities.
Coming from the Malayalam sets, when I went to Telugu, people told me that I wasn't acting and that it felt dead. It was very subtle in Malayalam, while it is slightly dramatic in Telugu. It is quite fascinating to understand what each industry expects of you and work according to that.
I am not familiar with Telugu, Tamil or Malayalam and tend to feel they are foreign languages to me.
If you're talking about industry, I've never restricted myself to Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, or Kannada. Whichever the language is, from Swahili to Marathi or Bhojpuri to Bengali, I would be happy to do it.
Telugu and Tamil industries keenly watch Malayalam movies and are appreciative of the content, be it 'Ustad Hotel,' 'Premam' or 'Bangalore Days.' They've also been listening to our music. That's how I was approached for Telugu films.
I have dubbed in all the three languages - Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
I have done Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi movies, and each actor that I've worked with is different from the other.