“I like to laugh and to make people laugh.”

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.

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.

Every character, when it comes to a cinematic representation, gets complicated and layered. You are given a lot of dimensions than a single dimension to an individual. That’s the main difference between seeing something out of the window and seeing something on screen.

I have grown up seeing success and failure.

Failure is part and parcel of the process of experimenting with roles and films.

For me, ‘Diamond Necklace’ is a commercial attempt, as it has songs and glamour.

People expect star kids to be perfect – horse-riding, fighting.

The five directors in ‘5 Sundarikal’ experimented, and it was a very personal exercise. Amal, Anwar, Aashiq, and Sameer have done things that they have never done before. Debutant Shyju has also made a beautiful film.

I would like to look funny on screen, doing comedy.

I’m an actor who evolves once the shoot starts.

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 someone to laugh with me, someone to be grave with me, someone to please me and help my discrimination with his or her own remark, and at times, no doubt, to admire my acuteness and penetration.

Instead of working for the survival of the fittest, we should be working for the survival of the wittiest – then we can all die laughing.

There it was: a few friends, laughter, and the safest place on earth.

I try to bring the audience’s own drama – tears and laughter they know about – to them.

Humor is laughing at what you haven’t got when you ought to have it.

I never laugh until I’ve had my coffee.

The ability to laugh heartily is the sign of a healthy soul.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes, but I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong.