I started with Tamil film, then Hindi. Now, I am also doing a Telugu film. The journey has been wonderful so far.
I am uncomfortable judging people, as we - members of the film fraternity - are judged more than anybody else.
If you create a system that makes the small donors the linchpin of the system in terms of how members of Congress directly raise the funds for their campaigns, then it gives everyday citizens much more of a role - a leveraging role - in the funding of those campaigns.
I like doing the promotional work. It's part of the film's process. Cannes was very wonderful to premiere.
I would say my fraternity was nothing but a bunch of farm boys; we weren't really in the whole fraternity scene, but yeah, that's a safe assessment of who I am. I've lived that life, growing up in agriculture and then going off to college and joining a fraternity, livin' that life.
Instead of doing a B or C grade Hindi film, I would much rather do an A grade regional language film.
Hindi film heroes never age but Hindi film heroines age fast.
Hindi film and southern film industries are doing well when it comes to technical know how. By and large, they are pretty similar and are close knit industries.
I remember breaking the news to both my parents that I wanted to be a director, and they both looked very doubtful. They didn't know what a closet Hindi film buff I was. I used to dance to old Hindi films songs on the sly, so my decision to be a part of Hindi cinema was shocking even for my parents.
So many distinguished members of our film fraternity like Lalita Pawar, A K Hangal and OP Nayyar faced financial hardships before they passed away. We need to look after the old and vulnerable entertainers.
I'm aggressive, quite frankly, because Staten Island gets screwed all the time. And if I'm not aggressive, then I won't be successful. That's not being a bad boy. That's doing my job.
I am not in every picture I post, and my social media is not only for film promotions. I don't feel comfortable with that. Yes, I'll post something promotional now and then, but rest of the time, it is like any other social media account.
I enjoy doing a Hindi film more than South flicks.
For 'Dum Maro Dum,' I had a diction tutor, as I had to get rid of my Hyderabadi Hindi and learn Goan Hindi. It wasn't easy, because these two kinds of Hindi were mutually incompatible. I had to unlearn one kind of Hindi and then learn a new kind.
With an award like the Asian Film Awards, we've sent a message saying that 'Asian Cinema is here, it matters, and more importantly, we are all part of the same fraternity!' The AFA is truly, then, an award for Asia, by Asia.
'Aiyyaa' was not the first film that I was offered in Hindi... it was the first film that I wanted to do in Hindi.