Mani Ratnam

“Even in a conservative society like Chennai, youngsters don't feel bound by conventions anymore.”

“Movie criticism is very subjective and everyone has the right to voice their opinion. You go to a movie and decide whether you like it or not.”

“That's the beauty of Mumbai. While some parts have grown rapidly, there are places like Churchgate that have retained their character.”

“I am not against songs in films. We come from an oral tradition of storytelling. I have grown up listening to epics in oral rendition and oral rendition always had music.”

“I don't know why my leading men have grey shades. Maybe I am trying to explore that side of me through them.”

“Art is something in which you are never an expert at any point of time. It's something you hone all the time and something which is elusive all the time.”

“I am more comfortable with Tamil than Hindi.”

“I don't believe that to be mainstream you have to be foolish. I don't think you have to be a buffoon to sell. I think you can be logical, aesthetic and still work within the mainstream format.”

“I did my first film in Kannada.”

“I grew up on the commercial film format. I have grown up all my life watching films and they have all been mainstream commercial cinema.”

“The journey of filmmaking is so amazing. You start off with great confidence, and develop insecurity at the time of release. When you are ready with the finished product, you are constantly wondering if you have been honest to the story you started out with, if you got what you wanted. One is too close to the project by then to be objective.”

“Let me be very frank. I make films keeping within the mainstream and my cinema is popular cinema. I love it this way.”

“I like songs. It's a weakness that I have.”

“Mumbai is the most cosmopolitan city.”

“Whatever film you do, even if it's a children's film, you do with the same amount of sincerity.”

“It doesn't matter which genre you're working in, you try to find an honest relationship within that space, and say if it's the romance genre, within that you have to find a story and characters that resonate with an audience.”

“When I am making a film, it's very instinctive, it's not preset.”

“A written word gets preserved in so many forms. But movies which comprise of both audio and visuals have to be done with care and a lot more details.”

“I want to make a film that can reach as many as possible so I want to talk in a language which I can easily communicate with.”

“It is usually the setting that decides whether a movie can be made in two languages. If the subject is rooted up North, then I make it in Hindi. But if the subject is common, then I am open to making the movie in multiple languages.”