There is more to Indian cinema than just Bollywood. I think regional cinema, especially Tamil and Marathi cinema are exploring some really bold themes.
There is more to Indian cinema than just Bollywood. I think regional cinema, especially Tamil and Marathi cinema, are exploring some really bold themes.
I love acting in Tamil cinema. I have decided quite consciously to do at least one good film every year in Tamil.
There is always a question that arises asking if am a Tamilan. I am 66 years old now. I had been in Karnataka only for 23 years; for the remaining 44 years of my life, I have been in Tamil Nadu with the Tamil people.
Richie' is so special to me. It's because this was the first Tamil film that I had auditioned for. I did not know the language well. I was an absolute newcomer. But I had the determination to speak in Tamil, as it was a very good role and I didn't want to let it go.
Nadunisi Naaigal' is new age Tamil cinema. I have tried to break the rules of regular cinema with this film.
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.
The girls who come into Tamil cinema today are educated and from well-to-do families. Unlike the actresses of my generation, they do not need cinema for survival. We cannot write a small role - dead cast, as I call it - and expect them to be excited.
The overwhelming love Tamil audiences gave 'Premam' will always remain special.
People in the South are very organised and are thorough professionals besides being good paymasters. They are very disciplined and start and wrap up work on time.
I don't mind acting in Hindi films, but the script has to suit me. It has to be a boy-next-door role because that's the image I have in Tamil cinema.
French cinema has always been very interesting, and it's still very powerful. I think it goes to show that it's great to still have a cinema that doesn't try to emulate, for example, American cinema.
Somehow people have been sold on the idea that only professionals can entertain them, that only professionals can sing or tell jokes. And people are cut out of this creativity loop, and creativity is being limited to these large, centralized voices.
I've always been drawn to a certain kind of dark aesthetic in cinema and in film, to what's abjected or considered abject. I've been tremendously influenced by noirish cinema whether that's Von Sternberg or Scorsese in the 70s or Lynch, etc.
I am thrilled to be a part of Tamil cinema as it is an interesting place.
The pacing in Tamil and Telugu is very different from Malayalam cinema.