Mammootty came on board unexpectedly. 'Uncle,' which I am co-producing with Sajai Sebastian, was meant to be a low-budget film and we had almost cast another actor in the titular role. But, during the shoot of 'Puthan Panam,' I narrated the film's plot to Mammootty, who liked it and wanted to do the movie.
In school I was sidelined by Tamil language teachers. But in the film industry, I got interested in Tamil poetry after reading and working with the Vairamuthu.
Post-'Pellichoopulu,' I received a lot of offers from Tamil industry. I decided I won't do a Tamil film unless I know the language. If I want to do it, I wanted to do it perfectly.
I prefer the Telugu film industry, as women are respected more than they are in the Tamil film industry. In Tamil cinema, they care only about their hero, who is God.
For a Tamil debut, I wanted to make sure the script is the right one. We are hopeful 'Bramhotsavam' will be that film.
Hindi film industry makes film for the rest of the world. Tamil films are watched by Malay people. When a film is not bound by a language, why should an actor be?
'Hudugaru' is a remake of the Tamil film 'Nadodigal.' The film is about what happens when relationships between friends or lovers is taken casually. The film will appeal to youngsters and families alike.
I fell in love with Sri when I watched her Tamil film during the late 1970s. After watching her film, I wanted to know more about her.
I have never been someone who chooses a film according to the language. Since I am comfortable with Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, the scope of the film is all that matters to me.
I started my career with her. I was supposed to do my first film in Tamil in which she was the other heroine. The film was titled 'Vennira Aadai.' It was a love triangle, with Jayalalithaaji and I playing the hero's two love interests. But the director Sridhar removed me from the film after a few days' shooting.
I took up Tamil films because I'm a big fan of Mani Ratnam. I thought maybe he'll notice me if I act in a Tamil film.
I wanted to do film. I was living in New York and working in theater, but I always wanted to do film.
I made four comedies, and all did well, but I always wanted to do an action film. When I saw 'Singham,' I thought this was the right film. Many stopped me, saying, 'You are doing so well in comedy, why do you want to make this film?'
There are different sides to me; I wanted to make a personal film but I would not want to make any film that does not reflect me in it. At least, not right now. I'm just too young to be doing that.
"Bruce" was an Eddie Murphy film, so there was a whole different vibe, working on that film, as opposed to working on a [Adam] Sandler film, which I'd done a few of. First of all, there were tons of kids running around. I'm surprised I ever had a kid after doing that film.
I often find in the film world, that it's very self-referring. If you talk to someone about films, they talk about them in terms of other films - rather than as something that happened to them in their life. And I'm really keen to get back to film as a reference to real things, not necessarily to other films.