Our society has a mentality that elderly people pass on their wealth to their son or immediate relatives, and I think we all do it. It's a part of nature and is an exaggerated topic.
— Ram Gopal Varma
When I believe in an actor, I believe there is something in that actor.
I feel there are only well acted or badly acted roles and no such thing as a good actor or actress.
Fundamentally speaking, bodies age; feelings don't.
'Not A Love Story' is inspired by true events, but it is not based on those events completely. When I first read about the Maria Susairaj case, I was fascinated with the psychological aspects, that two seemingly very ordinary people can go completely berserk.
Some of my scripts need the larger catchment area of Bollywood. But some suit Telugu films.
Everyone knows about Amitabh Bachchan being a legendary actor, and I had this sense of arrogance that I can make him do what I want. But what he did on locations completely blew me away. I realised that I understand the quality of performances even more after seeing him perform.
Following the West is not surrendering. Following the West, the best of the West, is following originality.
My greatest dream is to make a film on 'The Fountainhead,' which I have been restraining from doing because it is so much in the mind, and I am yet to be able to decode that.
I like people who have clarity about their work.
If 'Bhoot' was called 'Man Ke Rishte,' no one would be interested. The title is a very essential part of a film. It subconsciously prepares the audience as to what they can expect.
It is stupid to think the audience is a bunch of fools who can be manipulated by long titles and NRI romances.
I don't have the time to think about what someone else thinks of me because I'm busy making films.
In the business of entertainment, either I am able to create an effect that impresses people or not.
The problem is I don't have respect for the films I make after I've made them. I detach myself and get embarrassed when I watch them later.
I don't believe in gratitude.
I don't want to answer questions about my favourite food or holiday spot.
People favouring their relatives more than an outsider is what the biggest fight in democracy is, let it be in film industry or politics.
It's understandably obvious, when I was making 'Company,' of the underworld genre, people would compare it to 'Satya.'
The thing about audiences is that we can't generalise them. It's very unfair.
Today, filmmaking isn't just about shooting and releasing. You've to structure the marketing of a film.
All my movies are copies of Hollywood, some of them pretty trashy copies. All filmmakers copy from Hollywood.
I would say that if a man like Balasaheb Thackeray can exist, 'Sarkar' can exist.
'The Godfather' has been a film which has influenced me a lot.
I grew up with Western films, and I always wondered why Bollywood never made films like that. Why do we always have to break into song?
I honestly feel it is important for a director to get obsessed with the characters.
'Bhoot' is a hold-on-to-your-seats horror film, while 'Darna Manaa Hai' is a hold-on-to-your-popcorn horror film.
Ultimately, cinema is an actor's medium.
I hate the word 'break.' It's just a business deal at the end of the day so there's no such thing as giving a break.
Any film I make, my intention is always to make people like it.
Let me put it this way: if 'The Godfather' hadn't been made, 'Sarkaar' wouldn't have been made. That is the truth.
Maybe 'Bhoot' wasn't scary for me because I made it.
I don't work with anyone out of a sense of charity. I use people as long as they are useful to me.
The industry has a standard way of judging actors: they do ten films, they get X price, and they get this number of awards, seen at page three parties and all that - that is how they measure success. I don't do it like that.
'Naach' doesn't have any of the traditional, conventional ingredients of a love story.
Stars work because of familiarity. They fill theatres because audiences know who they are. There is a brand equity. But there are films strong enough to not need stars, or films that should not be made with stars at all, where only fresh faces will do. So I make the decisions accordingly.
The shelf life of a specific film has decreased while the number of films required to fill multiplex cinemas has increased.
In Telugu, I have 'Bejawada Rowdilu,' a movie on the gang war culture in Vijayawada.
First of all, 'Sarkar' is not an underworld film. It's about a man at the head of a feudal set-up in the middle of a cosmopolitan city, where he almost runs a parallel government largely due to his personal charisma. And the film is about his friends and enemies and his family.
With my films, I'm targeting the urban multiplexes, the sophisticated media-savvy young crowd.
To see Sridevi making tea in Boney Kapoor's kitchen was a huge letdown. I won't forgive him because he brought the angel down from heaven to the kitchen of his apartment.
Everyone can have a crush on anyone, be it on a real person or a celebrity.
I have become a full-fledged producer. I spend a lot of time on pre-production work.
When I have a new idea, I'm charged up and want to start the film immediately, but I simply don't have the patience to wait for stars.
I'm an atheist, and I don't believe in ghosts.
I always had a fair share of hits and flops.
Any film, whether it worked at the box office or not, I'll have my favourite moments from it.
I wrote 'Kshana Kshanam' with the one and only purpose of impressing Sridevi. 'Kshana Kshanam' was my love letter to her.
The whole idea of making 'James' was to make an action film in the style of the 1970s and '80s.
