Quotes from Sriram Raghavan

Like you don't watch 'Octopussy' or any Bond film for the story. You see it for the smart lines, the glamour, the overall package.

Some of our best writers are self taught. Screenwriting is a combo of craft and art. The craft part can be taught, about how to be visual and economical with scenes. However, finally it's the individuality of the writer that will come into play.

I've met Shah Rukh a couple of times. He had even dropped by on the sets of 'Agent Vinod'.

When people watch good films they want other films to be of that calibre as well particularly when you cater to the same core audience.

With 'Agent Vinod', there was a lot of chaos with schedules and the film took a year and a half to shoot.

There's this film called 'The Pledge', with Jack Nicholson in it. Now that's a dark film.

Badlapur' is a drama, a character-driven story. It is not so much about plot.

I would not have been interested in doing just a revenge film simply because I have seen so many revenge films right from Clint Eastwood films to Amitabh Bachchan's 'Zanjeer', 'Sholay' and 'Ghayal' and various variants of them.

When I finish my first draft I usually narrate it to some trusted friends who can give me feedback. All criticism is welcome.

I have never had the problem of finding a producer for my films. I think I am just lucky because my first film didn't do great box office business.

I'm not a social person. I don't like parties. I like small groups, we discuss ideas in my office.

We all are scared of bad things... So when you are watching a film, you see your fears on the screen.

People don't know what filmmaking is even after they have made ten films.

Frankly, you cannot match the action in a Bond or a Bourne film. Forget budgets, it needs an expertise which I probably lacked.

Ever since my first film, I had more producers than scripts. And I've realised that a certain project requires a certain kind of producer for it to be made well.

With 'Badlapur', I wasn't even thinking about casting. I was wondering whether any producer will want to make a film with a story like this. It is not your expected, feel-good, or even your regular thriller.

The stories I read or get attracted to have a kind of thrill element, or a crime.

Right from childhood, I have enjoyed films which belong to the thriller genre. As a kid, I would read novels written by Agatha Christie and James Hadley Chase.

Only three or four thrillers are made in Hindi cinema in a year. There is a fascination for crime genre but producers think thrillers don't have that much of a market or will not get picked up for satellite rights.

I am partial to thrillers but if somebody gives me a script like 'King's Speech' to do, I would love to do it too.

I believe thrillers work if the story is good. It is not easy to make a thriller because the audience is making their own story in their minds as they watch the film. You have to break that expectation and still make them like the film.

Hollywood thrillers give away almost 70 percent of the story in promos but still the film remains interesting. In India we do a lot of cuts and put in songs in promos to create an impact.

As a filmmaker, I tilt towards stories which are crime-led.

If it's a Hindi film, it has to have a Hindi title.