I grew up in the South where most people are unimpressed. I was asked several times if I’d play cricket and I found it annoying.
How’s Aamir Khan as an uncle?
Very wicked and mean. A real terror. There was a time when I was in boarding school and he sent me a box of chocolate. But every single bar of chocolate was replaced by cardboard.
Tell us about your role in the film.
The character I play is one of the major attractions for me. He doesn’t have the trappings of a typical hero. He’s just a middle-class boy and the story is about how he grows into a man. That I found very real.
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You’ve done other films like Kidnap and Luck. How do you choose your films?
I’ve finished Kidnap, started Luck. Well, I read a script or listen to a narration and imagine I’m watching a film. By the end, if I think I’d spend money to watch it, I go ahead.
Any unpleasant fact about Bollywood you wish you knew.
Whatever unpleasant things have come up so far, I expected. And I’ve seen Aamir and the rest of my family deal with difficult situations, so I knew almost everything.
Any Bollywood stereotypes you’ve had to deal with?
I was called for a narration and then handed a DVD of a Hollywood film.
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Your favourite directors.
Chris Nolan, Michael Mann. I also watch a lot of Robert Zemeckis.
What kind of films would you like to direct?
I believe in commercial films. But today commercial is synonymous with brainless and intelligent is synonymous with boring.
If not films, what would you take up?
Not a thing. I tried to find a career elsewhere, it didn’t interest me.
The question you’re asked most.
How’re you feeling?