Once you achieve success, you are consumed by the fear of living up to it. Which is why many directors stick to tried and tested fare. But, I made films on village subjects, love stories, movies with students as focus, crime thrillers... it was very satisfying.
When it's a superstar's movie, it does not matter whether I am a villain, comedian or father. Acting in such movies is always good and special.
Some theatres back home used to screen arthouse films by Adoor and Shyam Benegal, and week-long festivals of films from France, Germany and the U.S.S.R. That was when I realised there was a world where people did not run around trees singing duets. That it was possible to make a different kind of cinema.
It was sheer coincidence that 'Amaidhi Padai' had an open-ended climax. The idea for a sequel kept coming up, and I decided to act on it, nearly 20 years after the first film. It was not a planned decision.
There's satisfaction and contentment in direction.
