“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.”

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.

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.

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

The beautiful journey of today can only begin when we learn to let go of yesterday.

I suffered from ‘No one will ever fancy me!’ syndrome, well into my teens. Even now I do not consider myself to be some kind of great, sexy beauty. Absolutely not.

The beauty of the world is Christ’s tender smile for us coming through matter.

The sea is not less beautiful in our eyes because we know that sometimes ships are wrecked by it.

If our hearts are ready for anything, we are touched by the beauty and poetry and mystery that fill our world.

A heaven so clear, an earth so calm, So sweet, so soft, so hushed an air; And, deepening still the dreamlike charm, Wild moor-sheep feeding everywhere.

The beautiful thing about setbacks is they introduce us to our strengths.

See, my children, a person who is in a state of sin is always sad. Whatever he does, he is weary and disgusted with every thing; while he who is at peace with God is always happy, always joyous. . . Oh, beautiful life! Oh, beautiful death!