No one can ever create art, even on a piece of paper, as they have envisioned it in their mind.
I don't believe in luck. Everything is our doing or undoing. If something doesn't come out right, then as a director, you have to take full responsibility. You can't just say, 'No, I gave this job to the music supervisor. They promised me they would do it, and they didn't do it.' You can't blame anyone else.
After my second film, 'Simhadri,' which was a very big hit, I made 'Sye,' a small college movie with a rugby union backdrop.
I wanted to complete 'Maryada Ramanna' in a short time, but it took me almost a year, and now 'Eega' took double the time, but in the end, it was worth it.
I have huge respect for Sridevi ji as a flag-bearer of the southern film industries in Mumbai for many years. I wish her all the best. And I wish 'Mom' a big success, as the trailer looks very intriguing and promising.
I would say the most important aspect of direction is that you, as a director, and your producer need to be on the same page, the same line of thinking. If that doesn't happen in the beginning of the film, then that will show in the final product 100 percent.
Any hit films, impact-creating films, leave their mark on the industry. It is in human nature to try to follow something that is creating an impact.
150 shooting days is quite normal, which is not the case in Hollywood, as I am told. Most of the big films there are done in 70 or 80 days.
No director can ever deliver what's on his or her mind totally, but 'Baahubali-2' is the closest I can get in executing what I had envisaged onto the celluloid.
I am always in self-doubt... every moment of my filmmaking. I am supremely confident when the story is being written and everything is in our head. But the moment we get into the filmmaking, I start doubting myself - from the camera angle to the re-recording to getting the actors to do their shots.
'Bahubali' is not about big budgets, big visuals, or massive marketing. If a hero, producer, and director in Bollywood can have that kind of trust, something even bigger than 'Bahubali' is possible.
I'm well aware that I have put my actors in difficult positions because of my vision, but when they see I work for the betterment of the product, they understand the pain I put them through.
'Mayabazar' was the film I immensely loved as a kid. Only when I became a filmmaker about 20 years later did I realise its technical marvel and what a great epic it was. I and my visual effects supervisor, while making 'Yamadonga,' took two days to understand the magnification shot of Ghatothkatcha's persona.
Without my family, I'm nothing. They kept me in the right place. I believe that I'm the luckiest person in the country when I'm with them.
In childhood, we used to read stories from the Arabian Nights. Why were we so interested when it happened somewhere in Arabia, in a different culture? Until now, we hadn't gone to the Hindi audience with a good story.
If people get inspired by 'Baahubali' as a film, and they realize they can make a big film or a historical film which has good drama and good visuals, if they realize there are good stories to tell here, then it is good.
I can't analyse the secret of success. In my style of working, I stick to the basics and make stories revolving around the hero.
Audiences are always open to an interesting story.
I don't know how it is in other industries, but as far as our industry is concerned, everybody takes their energy from the director. I myself was very exhausted, but I was acting as if I was full of energy and was pumping it into the whole team.
I keep my options open about my next story, there will always be those vague discussions at home.
