Vetrimaaran

“When people told me that 'Polladhavan' was a remake of 'Bicycle Thieves,' I wanted to laugh because comparing 'Polladhavan' to 'Bicycle Thieves' is a disgrace to the latter.”

“The best part about an actor is that they should firstly be receptive and secondly be expressive.”

“Whatever film it is, the geography has to be right. If I cannot establish it, I'll get lost. I wouldn't even understand it in the first place! I hence visit a place and decide what can be conveyed from where; how that can be incorporated in the story.”

“Dhanush paid my salary in 2015 when I needed it to make 'Visaaranai.'”

“We all have to consciously make efforts to identify our roots and nurture them.”

“Awards are an encouragement. An award is not something we aim at while making a film.”

“For me, every film is a learning process. After each, I take time to unlearn.”

“I've always been interested in showing our films to international audiences. The easiest way is through the festival circuit, a big marketing platform for films that aren't big enough to be in the mainstream race.”

“The violence in 'Visaranai' is based on reality.”

“Every film that I make is an accident.”

“Anybody with a good smart phone can shoot and edit a film. Distributing it is the hard part.”

“My mentor is Balu Mahendra.”

“I've always said that the more ethnic you become, the more international your film becomes.”

“Craftsmanship and logic is key to any movie-making.”

“We should protest to ban NEET altogether.”

“I feel you lose your audience when you make movies for others and not for yourself or your people.”

“It is a challenging task to adapt a book to screen presentation and you will not be able to satisfy those who read the classic novel.”

“And I don't want people to think that I make movies based on other films.”

“Actually, after three years, I realised that the opening scenes of 'Polladhavan' were inspired by 'Lolita,' in which the lead character says, 'Why did I meet her? My life would have been different had I not met her.'”

“India is a conglomeration of different states with various languages, tradition, and culture for each.”