Quotes from Rajkumar Hirani

You need to write about something that you really know about or you deeply connect with. Don't fake it.

Assuming audiences to be dumb, that's a big fallacy.

It takes time to write a script and properly make the film and edit it.

While we were filming 'Munna Bhai MBBS,' we didn't think we were doing some kind of mainstream cinema. I only knew that I was doing a different kind of cinema.

I'm a filmmaker first, nothing else matters.

I think I have taken more holidays with Boman than I have with my wife.

In terms of films, I don't like to show pain. I'd like to show hope.

I have a terrible reputation for being nervous.

Chase excellence, success will follow

When you focus on your own work, it all falls in place. People respect you.

Scale is very easy actually. Put a camera on a jib or a drone and get bloody big shots on big sets, it's very easy. But then you're distracted. If you're looking at the shot, you aren't following the story any more.

Dad had a huge influence on me. I really look up to him for his brave acts. He was an outspoken man. For him, if it was the right thing, he would stand up for the smallest guy around him.

I think in any work of art, there always will be randomness about what is good, what is bad.

Attenborough's 'Gandhi' shook me as a filmmaker.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra is the only man I see around who makes films because he thinks 'this is a story that needs to be told, so let's tell it.'

Taking nuances from real life will help you make scenes that have never been done before. It keeps the story interesting.

That's a battle we are always fighting whenever we cut trailers or promos for films. We always wonder how much to say, and every filmmaker wants to say the minimum. You don't want to reveal your film and ruin the viewing experience.

Someday I want to really talk about religion and blind faith. I explored astrologers, palmistry etcetra at length till I believed it was a scam. Even in '3 Idiots' I take a dig at them.

I read till I fall asleep. Daytime actually I feel guilty reading - I always feel I should be doing something else!

Very honestly, I don't feel 'Munnabhai' is a comedy film. I seriously feel it is a very emotional film.

I am not really worried about how others perceive me.

Whenever I finish a film, I feel that this is the worst film that I have made. This is bound to happen because while writing, directing and editing a film, I would have lived it 5000 times. Naturally, one tends to loose objectivity.

When your first movie releases, in my case it was 'Munnabhai MBBS,' I was just relieved that it was out there. Just that sheer thought makes you happy.

I have the highest respect for the concept of 'Advait' - the oneness of all humans - that is central to Indian culture, thought, and religion.