1. I think people misunderstood that scene in Nishabd when Jia runs her legs up and down Bachchan’s leg under the table.

Ans: I am not sure misunderstood is the right word. I would say they could have watched from different perspectives. People who watched it through Jia found it cute. People who watched it through Bachchan found it sexy and people who watched through Revathy found it very offensive.

2. Some of Woody Allen’s quotes remind me of you.
Ans: Thanks for making me realize that I am not the only weirdo on the planet.

3. Don’t create false world around you.
Ans: Ok sir.

4. How can a person living in this country say that he does not like it?
Ans: I like the country all right. I only dislike people like you who live in it.

5. How does one deal with fans?
Ans: There is no such thing as fans. Every human being lives for himself and for his own gratification alone. If an artiste entertains them through his music, acting etc, they will appreciate and pay money to him or her one way or the other, and the day someone else does better they will move on. After Shahrukh entertained them for a decade when Hrithik came in with Kaho Na Pyaar Hain it just took them one day to tear off Shahrukh’s posters and put up Hrithik’s. And then later when some of Hrithik’s films bombed they went back to Shahrukh. So what fans are we talking about? They will just be there as long as your work interests or entertains them.

The other kind of fans who stick on to their idols irrespective of their work are those who strike a self identity with a feeling of belonging to the said celebrity. They will be in the category of a cult following which is very akin to following political ideology or forming a radical group. This is particularly prevalent in the fans of South stars. They develop a tendency to defend the star and get blind to his work.

Versions of this you can see, for example in someone ardently defending R.D Burman’s music forever in his life and he won’t even allow both himself and anyone else to even let another music director’s work to be spoken higher. What he will be protecting here is more a part of his own personality than R.D.Burman’s work itself.

I used to be obsessed with Jaya Sudha a Telugu actress in my teens and I used to hate any other heroine’s film working better than hers. So here it is not the work of the artiste anymore but it is my sense of belonging.

6. Do you prefer to let go one arrow after the other without making sure it will hit the target?
Ans: I think you are a little dated. I prefer a machine gun.

7. What will you define as fresh ideas? New ideas?
Ans: Not necessarily. It could be a new presentation of an old idea or an old packaging of a new idea.

8. Should you not go to a hill station and think?
Ans: I don’t think from a place. I think from my mind.

9. My humble request to you sir, don’t make movies just for the sake of it.
Ans: And my humble request to you Sir, please understand that if I don’t have the intelligence to understand it myself your lecture won’t help me either. Instead of that my humble request to you, Sir, is to spend that lecturing time on bettering yourself in whatever you do, that is if you do anything at all in the first place.