Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
A lot of medical problems are solved if doctors are nice to patients. If you can make them think positive, you may not need medication.
In Hollywood, the system is so streamlined, the administration is in place. That's why every six months Spielberg is able to make a film.
I edit as I write and shoot. Any extra line, any pause that I know will get chopped on the editing table is done away with then and there.
I completely work on the basis of my intuition. I don't think I premeditate a success formula. There is no formula to make a successful film.
I have been in advertising and I know my craft well, but ultimately in cinema every scene has to matter, and that has to do with the writing.
I get so many scripts a day but none of them inspires me. If I get a good inspiring script, then I will be most happy to make it into a film.
I have the highest respect for the concept of 'Advait' - the oneness of all humans - that is central to Indian culture, thought, and religion.
Filmmaking is a very collaborative art. Unlike a painting that an artist paints sitting by himself, as a director, you have to work with a team.
Films have to find a way to compress many anecdotes into one, or many events into one. Otherwise there is no way to tell it in two and a half hours.
At the end of the day, you don't remember 'Mother India' or 'Pyaasa' for the business it did, you remember them because they had a good story to tell.
When your first movie releases, in my case it was 'Munnabhai MBBS,' I was just relieved that it was out there. Just that sheer thought makes you happy.
A director should be in a position where he is only directing. On the sets, he is only looking at the performances, thinking 'How I am going to shoot this?'
While we were filming 'Munna Bhai MBBS,' we didn't think we were doing some kind of mainstream cinema. I only knew that I was doing a different kind of cinema.
See, most films are about achievers. You see a film like 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' or 'Dhoni.' Even 'Gandhi,' or the biopic on Lincoln. They end in triumph, on a high.
So you know, as a filmmaker you have to get it all right in the writing stage. After that, one has to leave it on the judgement of your trusted ones and the audiences.
But I don't think as film-makers it is our responsibility that every time we make a film we should be saying something. If you are entertaining people, that's more than enough.
To preach is very boring, and nobody wants free advice. But if it's entertainment, then this changes. If you explain something to a kid through an interesting story, he'll be hooked.
Someday I want to really talk about religion and blind faith. I explored astrologers, palmistry etcetra at length till I believed it was a scam. Even in '3 Idiots' I take a dig at them.
Dad had a huge influence on me. I really look up to him for his brave acts. He was an outspoken man. For him, if it was the right thing, he would stand up for the smallest guy around him.
Most biopics are stories of people who achieve something. It's an easier graph, a rags-to-riches story, or wanting something and reaching that. Sanju's life is not actually a case like that.
There's a big time influence Hrishikesh Mukherjee has always had on my work. I can watch 'Anand,' 'Golmaal' or 'Chupke Chupke' as many times as possible. I just really admire his kind of cinema.
With fiction, you can do whatever you want to, but if you are making a film on someone, you have to stick to the truth. You cannot just say that I will change the climax because I do not like it.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who has produced my earlier films, is still a part of 'PK' and is presenting it. He is not a hands-on producer - he used to put a certain amount in the bank and give me the cheque book.
I grew up in Nagpur, and I first started enjoying the author Harishankar Parsai. He wrote mostly satire, essays on the current situation and social issues. He wrote many books and I think he was my first influence.
Scale is very easy actually. Put a camera on a jib or a drone and get bloody big shots on big sets, it's very easy. But then you're distracted. If you're looking at the shot, you aren't following the story any more.
I don't understand why we learn what we do for most of it is of no use to us in our careers. To get a grade, students learn just about everything and later none of this is relevant. Grades become more important than learning.
That's a battle we are always fighting whenever we cut trailers or promos for films. We always wonder how much to say, and every filmmaker wants to say the minimum. You don't want to reveal your film and ruin the viewing experience.
Whenever I finish a film, I feel that this is the worst film that I have made. This is bound to happen because while writing, directing and editing a film, I would have lived it 5000 times. Naturally, one tends to loose objectivity.
I've often been asked why my shot-taking is not stylish, why I don't think about visual statements. The truth is, style is irrelevant. I never think of the shot as much as I think of the characters and what they are saying and doing.
After I finish any film, I move to the next one. It takes about a year to write and another six months are for pre-production and other things. You need a minimum of two-and-a-half months for the shooting of a new film. Then, I also edit my own film.
The only time you do not get nervous is when you are making your first film. At that time, just the joy of making a movie is so high that you do not care; you are happy to have finally made it. It is only later that you want your film to be seen and appreciated by people.
I lived in Bandra East, on the 12th floor. There was a small earthquake; I could feel the building shaking. I was halfway down the stairs when I realised I'd forgotten my laptop, and all my scripts were on it. If I lost the laptop, I'd lose all my work. I ran back up to get it!