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

I know it’s a big gamble, but I want to do good films.

My films may not have a great opening, but I am not bothered about it. Whatever the numbers be, I want those viewers who come for my films to be excited about watching the movie.

I am an actor, and I would like to reinvent myself through every character that I portray.

My father hasn’t backed me in any way, and I don’t think anybody has backed me.

There are two kinds of films: the ones that are devoid of logic but can still hijack the audience, and those that can win them over with logic. Both kinds can succeed, and I like to work in both.

I think everything is temporary.

Failure affects me hard.

It is easier to produce a film on your own than convincing another person to come on board.

If I had my way, I want to do 15 films in a year, but I have realised I cannot physically do that.

I have been fortunate to collaborate with people who have been open to discussion. If I tell them something, they have always explained to me why they want it the other way.

Let me make something clear: I can’t do anything in particular to make others laugh. I do what is necessary for a character. The body language of the character may make others laugh.

The less people know about you, the more you understand how beautiful life is. It’s good when you exist only on screen. I don’t want them to take me home. I love to have my privacy.

What I look for in a project is whether the storyline excites me.

I never wanted to be an actor but ended up being one.

Roles don’t fascinate me. It is the narrative, the screenplay that is fascinating.

If I do a film, I go to the place where it is based on, interact with people, and then, I believe, you pick up things without you even noticing.

A genius is a mentally ill person with an audience

If you want to make an audience laugh, you dress a man up like an old lady and push her down the stairs. If you want to make comedy writers laugh, you push an actual old lady down the stairs.

there are two ways of speaking an audience will always like: one is, to tell them what they don’t understand; and the other is, to tell them what they’re used to.

It was a revelation for me, in a practical sense, that you could write in an African language and still reach an audience beyond that language through the art of translation.

We have to stretch out the audience. It can’t be this narrow – we have to stretch out the point of view.

What audiences love with series is that they can invest in characters for such a long period of time, and it’s the same for actors. You can truly tell your story; then it’s done.

As an actor, it’s very interesting to make the audience love you while you are doing horrendous things.

The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one.