I watched Sly Stallone and the 'Rocky' movies over and over again. They were fantastic.
I think that the first film I saw in the theater was 'The AristoCats.' I was like, 'Oh my God, this is brilliant!' That's when I knew I wanted to work in cinema. I was four or five.
I am only in competition with the people who taught me cinema. I am not in competition with anyone in the industry.
After watching 'Dangal,' I called my writer and told him that I wanted to do a sports film for Punjab because no sports movies have been ever made in Punjab.
I'm influenced by those '40s, '50s, and '60s films: things like 'The Apartment' - I was a big fan of Billy Wilder.
I have been inspired by world cinema in different ways. But no, 'Raja The Great' is not a copy. It's not based on any film. You will see a lot of Telugu nativity, moreover.
Being a musician, people ask you a lot about what musicians inspire you, and there's plenty of musicians that I love and respect, but I think that I'm the most inspired by cinema.
I probably wanted to be Pam Grier growing up.
I find inspiration in the movies I've loved, especially all films ever made about Dracula.
I love Frank Capra. He believed in the goodness of people and one man's ability to fight and often triumph.
Movies I liked growing up were like Francis Ford Coppolla movies and Scorsese movies.
I saw Mani sir's 'Bombay,' and I wanted to be a Mani sir heroine.
I came to the cinema industry to become a director from the inspiration of Guru Dutt and Shantaram.
