“I listened to the script of ‘Carbon’ at the end of 2014. I liked it the moment I heard it. I wanted to do it.”

I want the audience to watch my films, and that is what I value more than any awards.

The characters I portray are an extension of what I’ve seen, heard, or read, and so what you see in my films are how I understand life.

People know me through my characters. I don’t think they have any idea about the individual that I am. They know I am a director’s son, and I am married to an actress.

I am a person who doesn’t like responsibility of any kind. But I do enjoy what I do.

It doesn’t matter to me how I look on screen. What matters to me is how I connect with the audience.

When I began acting, my biggest fear was whether the audience will appreciate the kind of films I do.

I trust my directors to see me through, for I don’t consider myself as a natural actor – or a good one at that.

I have never been 100% confident that I am right about anything.

My thought process is in Malayalam. So, every time I have to work outside Malayalam, the process is a little stressful. I have to translate my Malayalam thoughts into English and back to Tamil.

I believe that anyone with a bit of guidance can act.

Most of the films that I do help me learn something.

I’ve always wanted to do a role based on a real-life person.

I will continue to do films that excite me.

I like to laugh and to make people laugh.

When I choose the scripts, all I look forward to is an impressive narration.

The only thing my famous last name got me was a foothold in the industry. That was the easy part. The biggest problem is survival. As Fazil’s son, I am expected to know everything – acting, dancing, horse riding… I am not trained in all these, and I don’t think I ever will be.

I feel I should try to reveal. When you hit it right, you produce an emotional response in the listener that can be cathartic. When you’re wrong, you’re soppy, sentimental.

I listen to most everything that’s out there because I need to stay aware of what’s happening in the industry.

I thought I’d spent too much of my life listening for some damn man – for my father and now for my husband.

It is the natural disposition of all men to listen with pleasure to abuse and slander of their neighbour, and to hear with impatience those who utter praises of themselves.

The wisest among us are the ones who calmly listen and speak in the face of adversity.

We live in a time filled with noise but with exceptionally few listeners.

Half the time I feel like I’m talking to the wall because you don’t react at all and then the shock comes when I begin to scream that I just want somebody to listen to me.

We just play whatever we’re into. For a while there, we weren’t listening to too much rap stuff, ’cause there wasn’t anything interesting.