I am not someone who believes to doing a film just because it is off beat.
My films are completely offbeat.
When I was young, I went with my mum to see some really random independent films, which really spoke to me: 'My Beautiful Laundrette,' 'Secrets and Lies'... It wasn't all arthouse, though!
The films that I really liked and the ones that really blew my mind when I was younger were independent films. They're like great records to me.
Cinematically, anything like 'Khawto' in Bengali cinema hasn't happened. Yes, you get such films in Hollywood, a few in Bombay. In Bengali literature, you get such stories in the works of Samaresh Basu and Buddhadeb Guha.
Basically, I have always wanted to have an art-house cinema. A cinema where we can show films that are not necessarily the current offerings on circuit and films that are not commercial.
As an actor, I have always believed that content is the king, and I have always put my neck on the line to choose cinema that is off the beaten track.
If you see my filmography, I have mostly done non-glamorous roles.
I'm no longer interested in being in big commercial films.
Underground, raw movies that come out of nowhere and change everything - they aren't slick-looking. But I have nothing against slick-looking as long as the scripts are funny.
I don't want to go to just watch big huge summer movies that everybody predicts is going to be the big huge summer movie and that are all the sort of blow-them-up movies or whatever you want to call them. I think there are a lot of other people out there, too, that want an alternative.
The kind of stories I like often comes from debutant directors.
There is something about the Australian psyche that seems to like films that are slightly offbeat.
It's about finding unique, one-of-a-kind films that I would want to see myself. I think 'Party Monster' is one of those.
In future also, we would like to back films that can be considered slightly risky since they don't have song and dance.
If I saw 'Virgin Suicides' or 'Eternal Sunshine,' I'm so proud to be in those movies. They are such great movies. I felt so free on those sets.
Give us a break! I've hardly done anything but independent films.
I've mostly worked in weird films playing weird characters, probably because I'm a weird person.
