A lot of vets like 'Good Morning Vietnam' - I get great letters from guys.
When you finish a film, before the first paying audience sees it, you don't have any idea. You don't know if you made a success or a flop, when it comes to the box office.
I signed 'Aurangzeb' because I loved the story. I thought it was an untold tale. For whatever reason, the audience did not like the film. Fair enough, but I still enjoyed the process.
A Fantastic Woman' has been seen as very interesting and entertaining. The film has had very good reactions. We are very surprised and delighted how the characters have connected with so many people.
We work hard on every film, and then it's up to the audience whether they like it or not. At the end of the day, it is the audience wish what to accept and what not.
When I made 'Vicky Donor,' people said it's not a family drama, it is for youngsters. But families also went and watched the film. Same happened with 'Piku' and 'October.'
I don't read the reviews, the blogs, or anything else. Instead, I feel the audience when I show the film.
I am happy with the response I am receiving for 'Kaabil.' Audiences' love is what we work for, after all.
I think it took us all by surprise. I mean, I knew that people in New Zealand would like [Hunt for the Wilderpeople], but no one really anticipated how much they would embrace it as it is. And it's playing widely in Australia now; they're running it as well. It's going to be interesting to see how it does it in the States, but I think if Sundance was any indication, I imagine it could do well.
I think what working in a short film online is that the response from the audience is immediate whether your short film or web-series works or not, it is immediate. You can see comments and you can also see how many people have viewed it.
In my experience, sometimes a movie just hits at the wrong time, gets the wrong press, or gets the wrong representation, and it gets misunderstood.
Apart from 'VIP' being a blockbuster movie, the various characters such as mine, the Luna bike I use in the movie, the lovable amma and appa, a pet dog named Harry Potter, the innocent brother, etc., had a huge reach among the audiences.
It's dangerous to think too much about how a film will be received. Filmmaking is not a popularity contest. Some would disagree.
When you do a film like 'My Soul to Take,' and people think it sucks, that hurts. We put a lot of work into it, and it's a good film, but you go on.
To get a film in Cannes is a real honor. To have it play and not get booed is a real relief.
I don't just want to be associated with a few good 3D movies and the audience is saying all of the other ones are crap.
I've been delighted by Cannes and Toronto but I keep saying I don't know how good we're going to be received in America because that's where it's most challenging.
You want the audience to get your movie, and you want the audience to like it. It's as simple as that. If they don't understand what you're trying to say, you've failed. Of course, you can't get 100 percent of the crowd to understand the movie, but you know when you've reached the people you want to reach.
With 'Good Will Hunting,' Miramax made certain the recruited audience wasn't expecting to laugh at Robin Williams like they normally do. From my limited experience, you can really blow test screenings by conducting them in the wrong way.
'Serial Mom' tested really well when we finally got with the right audience. But they would go to some shopping mall in a deep, deep suburban L.A. neighborhood where they knew people would hate, and they just wanted to spend money to prove that people wouldn't like it. The movie was not a success when it came out.
It's so miserable and so easy to keep slamming Titanic -- I'll shut up.
A lot of people enjoyed the film 'Haywire' and a lot of people have mixed feelings on it but regardless, a lot of people have said really wonderful things about it being my first experience, that the fighting they absolutely enjoyed. So I think I've gotten a lot more fans, actually.
We make a lot of movies that I don't think merit a wide release. We have this label called Tilt, and we have the movies come out on that, and that's fine. But it shocks me when, having done this a few times, when I really believe a movie should get a wide release, and I struggle to get it released. That does surprise me.
When people approach me about my films it is usually to tell me how much they hate them.
To what extent a film works is beyond me. My first film 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne' did wonders at the box office. Then 'Chocolate' was also quite popular, but it didn't have the same effect as the first one.
