I never wanted to be an actor but ended up being one.

You can probably ask any actor: every time you start a new film, it's literally like your first movie. Everyone, regardless of the filmmaker being a debutant or a veteran, takes their time to settle down when you begin the shoot together. It's like all of us have moved into a new house, and we are setting up the place.

Mohan Raja is an interesting filmmaker. He is constantly, if I may use the word, contradicting himself. He explains a scene, and then he will try to break that and rebuild it. That, to me, is filmmaking. Every scene is constructed after a lot of discussions.

I have never been 100% confident that I am right about anything.

Every character, when it comes to a cinematic representation, gets complicated and layered. You are given a lot of dimensions than a single dimension to an individual. That's the main difference between seeing something out of the window and seeing something on screen.

If I do a film, I go to the place where it is based on, interact with people, and then, I believe, you pick up things without you even noticing.

It is easier to produce a film on your own than convincing another person to come on board.

All I believe in is, you need to be yourself.

There are two kinds of films: the ones that are devoid of logic but can still hijack the audience, and those that can win them over with logic. Both kinds can succeed, and I like to work in both.

I've done only things I've liked, and I'm happy that others have liked them, too. I hope it keeps going that way. But l would never want to do films which please just one set of audience; they should connect with everyone.

Offscreen, I'm a private person. I'm shy and don't know how to face the public.

I'm not a person who goes out of my way to change my look. I like my characters to look as natural as possible.

It feels good to hear good things about yourself.

I've always wanted to do a role based on a real-life person.

I think it would be a dream for any actor to play someone like Changampuzha.

I am a person who doesn't like responsibility of any kind. But I do enjoy what I do.

I'm an actor who evolves once the shoot starts.

I am an actor, and I would like to reinvent myself through every character that I portray.

I do only what I like. If we do something we don't like, we will become someone else.

I will happily sit at home and take care of the house.

It's the failure of my debut film which made me an actor, which made me want to succeed in the industry. But that doesn't mean I regret whatever choices I've made over the years. No, not even 'Kaiyethum Doorathu!'

I trust my directors to see me through, for I don't consider myself as a natural actor - or a good one at that.

I believe that anyone with a bit of guidance can act.

I have grown up seeing success and failure.

Roles don't fascinate me. It is the narrative, the screenplay that is fascinating.

Failure affects me hard.

People expect star kids to be perfect - horse-riding, fighting.

I want the audience to watch my films, and that is what I value more than any awards.

I feel that entertainment happens when fact and fiction is balanced.

It doesn't matter to me how I look on screen. What matters to me is how I connect with the audience.

Failure is part and parcel of the process of experimenting with roles and films.

I am not affected or carried away by success or failure.

My films may not have a great opening, but I am not bothered about it. Whatever the numbers be, I want those viewers who come for my films to be excited about watching the movie.

Mistakes happen, and then you try to overcome those. I like that process.

When I listen to a basic thought, I try to visualise the cinema in it. Sometimes it is dark, sometimes boyish, sometimes amateurish. It is a trial and error method. But the bottom line is that I want to entertain the audience.

I give my best to each role that I do.

People often ask whether marriage has changed me. I didn't marry because I had to change.

I have always maintained that the audience should take a call on this. Its up to them to decide whether they want to see a pirated version or not. They should understand the effort and amount of hard work that go into a film.

I want my films to do the talking. I feel if people have to understand me better, I should do more good films. I just want them to know me through my films.

Let me make something clear: I can't do anything in particular to make others laugh. I do what is necessary for a character. The body language of the character may make others laugh.

When I am with my friends, I am comfortable.

I like to laugh and to make people laugh.

The characters I portray are an extension of what I've seen, heard, or read, and so what you see in my films are how I understand life.

What I look for in a project is whether the storyline excites me.

When you are talking about human emotions, stardom doesn't matter.

As an actor, you create a character from your understanding of what you have heard and your observations. Eventually, every film is an extension of the images that I have seen or what I have heard or read somewhere.

People know me through my characters. I don't think they have any idea about the individual that I am. They know I am a director's son, and I am married to an actress.

Did you know you're supposed to soap and scrub for as long as it takes to sing 'Happy Birthday' twice?

Wildfires can leave the land with burn scars that last for years.

I'm a snowflake. And so are you. Your children are snowflakes. And so are mine. And those who protest the loudest about not being snowflakes? I can see your six-fold ice crystals from here! Because every person, empirically, is unique.