Gautham Menon

“I sneaked out of school to watch 'Nayakan.' I must have watched it at least 15 times at Anand theatre.”

“All the women close to me - my mother, sister, wife and friends - are strong and independent.”

“When people think I've lost it, I'll make 'Chennaiyil' and show them I've still got it.”

“Yennai Arindhaal' is perhaps the quickest film in my career.”

“There's nothing quite like a quiet corner in a coffee shop to gather your thoughts and begin writing.”

“What you feel about a film is what you feel when you're in love with a woman. You fight for her love and it's always a struggle... there are misunderstandings and you're always trying to prove that there's more to you.”

“Though I have an idea about the climax, it always changes when we start shooting.”

“Unless it's a song and something fancy, I would rather shoot on location.”

“I like to show love in a way that will bring a smile or a tear to viewers.”

“If I know somebody's right about something I take it from them.”

“I drove past one of the houses in Tiruvanmiyur and asked them if we could shoot there for 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya' because it seemed straight out of the pages of the script.”

“The Tamil audience is more receptive to unusual endings.”

“Even bigger directors like Mani Ratnam and Ram Gopal Varma have faced flak, that doesn't mean they've shied away from filmmaking.”

“Even when 'Kaakha Kaakha' was released, there were people who gave it an average rating and said they couldn't figure out what was happening. Three days after its release, the producer called me and asked me to remove all of Jothika's scenes from the film. I told him; in that case, you can also remove my name from the director's slot.”

“I am not a singer.”

“I would seriously love to do a Malayalam movie.”

“It is in college that one gathers confidence as the mind is open to ideologies.”

“I am a romantic at heart.”

“No matter how liberal or modern a family is, there will always be resistance when someone discloses that they are dating someone.”

“Back in the day, I was keen on working on a film with the superstars - Mammootty and Mohanlal. But they wanted me to make a film with them in Tamil.”