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

It’s the failure of my debut film which made me an actor, which made me want to succeed in the industry. But that doesn’t mean I regret whatever choices I’ve made over the years. No, not even ‘Kaiyethum Doorathu!’

I often see only my mistakes. I always feel I could have done better. Every artist goes through it.

I’m not a person who goes out of my way to change my look. I like my characters to look as natural as possible.

I wasn’t really sure about the kind of films I wanted to be a part of. That’s when I saw ‘Aaranya Kaandam.’ I was stunned; it was such a stylish film.

I want my films to do the talking. I feel if people have to understand me better, I should do more good films. I just want them to know me through my films.

I am not affected or carried away by success or failure.

I love the forest. It is the place where you hear yourself better.

Mistakes happen, and then you try to overcome those. I like that process.

I’ve done only things I’ve liked, and I’m happy that others have liked them, too. I hope it keeps going that way. But l would never want to do films which please just one set of audience; they should connect with everyone.

Mohan Raja is an interesting filmmaker. He is constantly, if I may use the word, contradicting himself. He explains a scene, and then he will try to break that and rebuild it. That, to me, is filmmaking. Every scene is constructed after a lot of discussions.

When I am with my friends, I am comfortable.

The closest encounter I had with films in my childhood was sitting on the lap of my father at a shooting set, and he would say ‘rain,’ and it started raining, and then he would say ‘song,’ and people started dancing. I thought I was sitting on God’s lap.

I don’t expect to win awards while working in films.

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.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

It’s important to keep challenging myself and try to come up with some new face every now and again.

This created world really helped me as an actor. It heightened everything, which made it more dangerous, more interesting and more liberating.

This created world really helped me as an actor. It heightened everything, which made it more dangerous, more interesting and more liberating.

That’s your job as the actor, to understand the human part of the character, to make it real.

That’s your job as the actor, to understand the human part of the character, to make it real.

It’s what I learn from the great actors that I work with. Stillness. That’s all and that’s the hardest thing.

I want to be the greatest actor that ever lived, frankly. I’d love that. But I don’t need to be. I just want to be here. That’s it.