You can be technically strong, and focus all your efforts on elements like casting, music, cinematography and sets, but they are all just add ons. End of the day, filmmaking is really about how well you tell a story.
Vikramaditya Motwane
I take criticism very positively if it's genuine.
If you're making a statement just to poke, people can see that. If you're making it to say something genuinely, people can understand that as well. They are smart enough to see the difference.
What I loved about the 1950s is that there is an aesthetic to even the average film. The way the camera is placed, the way characters move, the way you dressed the sets, the respect for craft and actors, I do miss that in today's films.
I've never lived anywhere else in my life, I have a massive love-hate relationship with this city. I grew up in the western suburbs in the '80s and for everything we had to go to south Bombay - so you lived the whole city, in a sense.
I like to make something different and interesting.
Personally, the films I love include 'Black Friday,' 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai,' 'Love Sex Aur Dhoka,' and 'Zindagi Na Milege Dobara' because they work at the box office and are complete packages.
I'm happy Lootera has sparked off a discussion.
A filmmaker has to have faith in talent.
I don't think 'Lootera' is slow paced; it's finely paced for its setting and story.
I like the films that gain awareness at the end - a sort of breakout moment.
I think because of social media and YouTube things are changing. Today people have a judgement about films.
I read pretty much every graphic novel I could lay my hands on. Not only 'Batman' or 'Daredevil,' but random ones like 'Black AF' and '100 Bullets.'
Multiplex cinema culture has created a level-playing field for directors where small budget movies are able to break even, even make profit.
But a lot of 'Bhavesh Joshi' comes from the 'angry young man' - the Bachchan films of the '70s or the Sunny Deol films of the '80s, where there is someone who has been wronged and wants to do the right thing.
It doesn't matter how big the film is - if the story is not good, it will not be accepted. Stardom can maybe pull audiences to theatres but beyond that it is all about content.
'Udta Punjab' is a story of four different people merged together. There are four different stories and four different perspectives.
The most important thing in a love story for me is the intensity and passion that my lead actors bring into playing their characters.
I would love to direct a documentary film if any good subject comes my way.
My father is a Sindhi and my mother, a Bengali.
Dystopia is a very interesting setting. Whether it's '1984' or 'Fahrenheit 451'... Dystopia is a wonderfully cinematic setting.
Horror movies make a lot of money in India.
In 2007, I probably wrote four screenplays in the entire year. Every three months I was writing a screenplay.
I love the new Marvel films, but I am not crazy about them. It is no longer a sub-genre or a fanboy genre. It has become so mainstream. You cannot say, 'I love superhero movies.' Everyone loves superhero movies now.
I was born in Mumbai and brought up between Mumbai and Nashik.
Post my parents' divorce, when I was 10, my mother, Deepa Motwane, took up a job as a line producer with documentary filmmaker Shukla Das, who was a cousin of hers. When I was 17, she did a TV talk show and I helped her with research and assisted her as she was also producing that show.
It does hurt that your parents are not together and they are fighting. Looking back, I grew up a little quicker than I would have normally. I spent half the week with my mom and half with my dad.
You want every film that you make to do well, not just indie films in general.
Both 'Udaan' and 'Lootera' were largely rehearsed. With 'Trapped,' I left room for improvisation.
I think I like reluctant protagonists.
I gravitate towards silent characters who don't talk much.
I'm willing to fail, my producers are willing to fail, my crew is willing to fail.
I love writing but it's a real pain. It's a miserable process - very satisfying but very miserable.
I've come to a point where I am less nervous when I am supposed to start a film. I am still super nervous on the day but I've lost a lot of my fear about what kind of perception people have about my film.
I am very excited about the TV medium and the Amazon-Netflix medium. It has been so liberating to work on these formats.
Make movies that you want to go and watch in a theatre.
The more shows that there are, the better it is for the industry. The writers are busy, if the writers are busy, the actors are busy.
Adapting a book is the most difficult thing because half the time you are wondering what to remove.
I think Raju Hirani and Farah Khan are the only two filmmakers who can balance the multiplex audiences and the single-screen audiences.
Of course, you have to think of the audience. You cannot make an obtuse film that only appeals to a small niche section of the audience.
You have to be honest about what kind of films you want to make.
I am drawn towards the sort of characters who are in situations where they don't want to be in. But that's a staple in pretty much in any hero's journey because if you have non-reluctant protagonist then how is there any conflict?
Bhavesh' is my most accessible film for sure.
While writing 'Bhavesh,' I pretty much chewed up every single graphic novel I could get my hands on, so all the way from the entire 'Batman' series, Frank Miller's 'Batman,' Ed Brubaker's 'Batman,' Scott Snyder's 'Batman,' all the way through 'Daredevil' to '100 Bullets,' through so many other graphic novels.
Showrunning is when you're the constant creative voice in the show. For a year-and-a-half, you are working on the scripts, you're fine-tuning them, you're the final say on the edit, the music and the cast.
To be a showrunner and a director is beyond exhausting.
I like to have the actors do their thing. And then brief them what to do differently in take two.
Of all the films that I have directed, I think 'Lootera' is the one that could have been better.
Actors love... at the end of the day, stars are actors. They love performing. And the more challenges I feel that you end up giving stars on the sets, the happier they are.
It is extremely satisfying when you finish a script, but the process of it can be just nerve-wracking.
