Vijay Sethupathi

Caste has divided us. I wish it should be completely abolished from our society.

I was active on Facebook for a while, responding to comments and thanking fans for their appreciation. But I found that the Facebook feed was numbing my emotions. I'd see an extraordinarily tragic news item, and even before I could react to it, see a hilarious meme right below it. This was confusing me.

When 'Pizza' released, I was a nobody. Initially, we managed to get only 100 screens. But, after its success, the producers of 'Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom' got 150 screens and also released the film in the U.S. Now, distributors are keen to invest in my films because they feel I have face value.

I came to the cinema for money. I had to settle a loan of Rs 10 lakh. I had no other go, so I thought I'd try my luck in films. I was earning Rs 25,000 at that time. It was not even enough for my family.

We never take people seriously when they are alive, but once they are gone, we always think that we should have treated them better.

I want to make my kind of films but make them work commercially, too. When my presentation meets the director's imagination, the result will be great.

Director Jai Krishna is an optimist who has a never-say-die attitude. He has impressed me thoroughly with his faith in the industry. Not many are aware of the fact that this man had to wait for almost 30 years in this industry to direct 'Vanmam,' his first film.

To be honest, many of my well-wishers want me to play the solo lead in films. Maybe, it's time to think about it. In fact, I have cut down on signing up for multi-starrer films.

I've never consciously done 'safe' commercial projects; luckily, they have done well.

Your present is shaped by your yesterday, but you don't have to advertise it.

I prepare my style of biriyani by sauteing sliced onion, tomato, green chili, ginger garlic and add the required water and rice. If I end up adding a tad too much of salt, I used to add curd to balance it.