Vetrimaaran

I feel you lose your audience when you make movies for others and not for yourself or your people.

Visaranai' isn't for those with weak hearts. It has a lot of graphic violence, and you need a strong stomach to watch the film.

Every film that I make is an accident.

I've done just three films in nine years.

We'd like to explore the prequel idea. I think it would be best suited as a web series on some digital platform. The prequel will be called 'Rajan Vagaira,' and it will track the rise of Rajan's character in 'Vada Chennai' and how he built his empire.

I've always been interested in showing our films to international audiences. The easiest way is through the festival circuit, a big marketing platform for films that aren't big enough to be in the mainstream race.

Slum children eat crow's eggs for nutrition yet nobody respects this common bird. It's the exotic birds which fascinate all.

Despite strict instructions from my mother not to step out of the house, I cycled all the way to Vellore to watch 'Thevar Magan.' In fact, I grew up watching classic films such as 'Naayakan,' 'Thaalapathi' and 'En Bommukutty Ammavukku.'

If you get the right cast, half your work is done.

A script writer usually manipulates his characters in accordance to the script.

Big-budget movies might have huge marketing budgets, but only some films have the content to stand out.

There is a huge market ready to accept good Tamil content.

It's always good to promote a film on a larger scale before it's been put to test.

I always feel that my films ought to teach me something about life.

I am a serious filmmaker, and I see the whole process of filmmaking more as a piece of art.

The pressure and hype is created by the media. Of course, expectations are there and we cannot stop that nor change yourself for expectations. We just continue making films.

The best part about an actor is that they should firstly be receptive and secondly be expressive.

Awards are an encouragement. An award is not something we aim at while making a film.

For me, every film is a learning process. After each, I take time to unlearn.

The first 40-50 pages of 'Veekai' is what made it film-friendly. I realised the subject would be relevant even after 50 years.

Dhanush is my biggest shield. Whatever be the situation, he creates a space for me to work. This has been the case since our first film.

And I don't want people to think that I make movies based on other films.

Actually, after three years, I realised that the opening scenes of 'Polladhavan' were inspired by 'Lolita,' in which the lead character says, 'Why did I meet her? My life would have been different had I not met her.'

When people told me that 'Polladhavan' was a remake of 'Bicycle Thieves,' I wanted to laugh because comparing 'Polladhavan' to 'Bicycle Thieves' is a disgrace to the latter.

The academy which boasts of 6,000 to 8,000 voting members are most likely to get swayed by the national mood in the US. There is a point person for every movie at the Oscars, who is supposed to promote the film and is trusted by the panel. By keeping all these in mind, Tamil cinema making its way to the final list is quite ambitious.

The joy I get while listening to my daughter, Poonthendrel, speak is incomparable. I've listened to several other kids speak but have never enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed listening to my daughter.

Craftsmanship and logic is key to any movie-making.

Characters, conflict and geography are things that must be considered while making movies from adaptations.

Visaaranai' reflects a stark reality from which you cannot shut yourself out: that is its success.

Cannes Film Festival prefers political films. We have to target certain festivals based on our films.

In Toronto, the film festival is like a carnival... entire families come to it.

Film festivals give less of a platform to mainstream films because they already have a market.

Primarily, a festival is a platform to sell films that are not meant for the mainstream audience. Cultural exchange is also important aspect of a film festival.

For the role of 50-year-old Sivasami in 'Asuran,' Dhanush has put in phenomenal effort. With his extreme level of dedication, he pulled off the challenging character effortlessly.

When you are adapting a book to a visual medium, you tend to leave a few things and add a few new ones.

It is a challenging task to adapt a book to screen presentation and you will not be able to satisfy those who read the classic novel.

Smaller films that have a great run at the festivals usually result in the audience promoting the film on social media and so on.

We all have to consciously make efforts to identify our roots and nurture them.

I do films for the common man and identify myself one among them.

Once, a man at the customs duty check at the Delhi Airport asked me a question in Hindi, and I told him that I didn't speak the language. He got angry and said, 'How could you not speak in Hindi? Hindi is our mother tongue.' I told him that it wasn't my mother tongue. He got furious, and made me wait for over 45 minutes.

I don't believe in one slow panning-shot to show a place. It should unfurl in the story itself.

I like to keep my films close to reality.

I wrote 'Aadukalam' keeping Dhanush in mind. As an actor, he delivers exactly what I need and sometimes more.

My mentor is Balu Mahendra.

It is much easier to do a film about something that the audience readily knows about - say, cricket. It is much more difficult to write a film based on golf.

My films are a reflection of the society I live in, what I see and observe.

The psychology of education is all about how the society gets benefited from it.

I can't describe how I make a film. It's organic.

Vada Chennai 2' needs a big budget.

Dhanush paid my salary in 2015 when I needed it to make 'Visaaranai.'