I think I have taken more holidays with Boman than I have with my wife.
— Rajkumar Hirani
Dad had a huge influence on me. I really look up to him for his brave acts. He was an outspoken man. For him, if it was the right thing, he would stand up for the smallest guy around him.
You need to have a liberal point of view for a society to grow.
One must always attempt to make good films, even if you fail it is ok. It is a journey, you have both good and bad days.
PK' is a very unique story. There are no benchmarks in Hindi cinema to give you an idea about 'PK.'
The more you succeed, the more you want people to love your efforts.
To preach is very boring, and nobody wants free advice. But if it's entertainment, then this changes. If you explain something to a kid through an interesting story, he'll be hooked.
Writers should be respected.
When you make a film you make a film. You don't think about how it will be marketed.
I have a terrible reputation for being nervous.
A lot of medical problems are solved if doctors are nice to patients. If you can make them think positive, you may not need medication.
Like every father who wants his son to be either an engineer or a doctor, my father wanted me to become a doctor. I never did.
I would love to make more films.
I read till I fall asleep. Daytime actually I feel guilty reading - I always feel I should be doing something else!
See, most films are about achievers. You see a film like 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' or 'Dhoni.' Even 'Gandhi,' or the biopic on Lincoln. They end in triumph, on a high.
Film-makers are greedy people - we want good stories and good subjects.
As writers, we are sketching people all the time when we write fiction.
My natural bend is to get attracted towards things that have been an influence in my life.
Attenborough's 'Gandhi' shook me as a filmmaker.
I think in any work of art, there always will be randomness about what is good, what is bad.
The pressure is always there to make good films, but that is more from your mindset, either you have it or you don't have it.
At the end of the day, you don't remember 'Mother India' or 'Pyaasa' for the business it did, you remember them because they had a good story to tell.
While we were filming 'Munna Bhai MBBS,' we didn't think we were doing some kind of mainstream cinema. I only knew that I was doing a different kind of cinema.
I am trying to make the kind of film that I would be happy to see.
That's a battle we are always fighting whenever we cut trailers or promos for films. We always wonder how much to say, and every filmmaker wants to say the minimum. You don't want to reveal your film and ruin the viewing experience.
I take time to write my script, if I have more scripts, I will make more movies.
I'm a filmmaker first, nothing else matters.
Every actor is great in his own right but certain actors suit certain roles.
Any holiday seems like a guilt trip.
It takes time to write a script and properly make the film and edit it.
In non-fiction, I like Wayne Dyer. I have a compilation of his best quotes near my bed! To me he's one of the finest authors.
But I don't think as film-makers it is our responsibility that every time we make a film we should be saying something. If you are entertaining people, that's more than enough.
After I finish any film, I move to the next one. It takes about a year to write and another six months are for pre-production and other things. You need a minimum of two-and-a-half months for the shooting of a new film. Then, I also edit my own film.
The only time you do not get nervous is when you are making your first film. At that time, just the joy of making a movie is so high that you do not care; you are happy to have finally made it. It is only later that you want your film to be seen and appreciated by people.
In 'Sanju,' there are too many colours. Some other filmmaker could have taken a dark side to that story.
I would say films inspire me more than the makers.
A director should be in a position where he is only directing. On the sets, he is only looking at the performances, thinking 'How I am going to shoot this?'
There is no good or bad cinema, there are films that connect either less or more with audience.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who has produced my earlier films, is still a part of 'PK' and is presenting it. He is not a hands-on producer - he used to put a certain amount in the bank and give me the cheque book.
In terms of films, I don't like to show pain. I'd like to show hope.
If you make something from your heart, of course you want it to connect with the people.
I spent five years after '3 Idiots' making my next film. I didn't see a single penny in those five years.
I can make any film I want to make.
When your first movie releases, in my case it was 'Munnabhai MBBS,' I was just relieved that it was out there. Just that sheer thought makes you happy.
When you focus on your own work, it all falls in place. People respect you.
Writing is a lonely process.
I lived in Bandra East, on the 12th floor. There was a small earthquake; I could feel the building shaking. I was halfway down the stairs when I realised I'd forgotten my laptop, and all my scripts were on it. If I lost the laptop, I'd lose all my work. I ran back up to get it!
I grew up in Nagpur, and I first started enjoying the author Harishankar Parsai. He wrote mostly satire, essays on the current situation and social issues. He wrote many books and I think he was my first influence.
Films have to find a way to compress many anecdotes into one, or many events into one. Otherwise there is no way to tell it in two and a half hours.
With fiction, you can do whatever you want to, but if you are making a film on someone, you have to stick to the truth. You cannot just say that I will change the climax because I do not like it.
