Suriya

Do your best and keep learning - that's what I believe in.

Sixty per cent of how you act is drawn from memories. And it's about who you are. I am a son, brother, husband, father, and caretaker. You connect with certain instances and emotions.

I try and imagine myself in situations and figure out how I'd have reacted and responded to them, and then bring that insight into my acting. Much of acting is about borrowing from your real-life experiences.

Even today, my father watches my films only in the theatre with the general public. And he's very tough. His first call will be to the director and the camera man, and only then will he send me a message.

How well we understand the kids' world is very important, and I myself am not claiming to be the perfect dad, and from feedbacks from Jo, I understand that more time should be spent with our children.

In Mumbai, it's almost like Hollywood. They can appeal to different segments and still be successful. There are multiplex audiences to whom you can showcase any lifestyle. But in Tamil cinema, we need to satisfy everybody, whether urban or rural.

I enjoyed working with Vikram Kumar, as he is an amazing director who is full of ideas, and he tells me that he has different compartments in his brain in which he places different story ideas and works on them simultaneously.

Being in Loyola College exposed me to other options and gave me confidence, apart from the freedom to bunk classes. I became a merchandiser and then a garment manufacturer, and interacting with foreign buyers and manufacturing foreign brands in India gave me a high.

Dad always said, 'Get a degree and do something on your own before you start movies.' He always kept me grounded, telling me the realities of the business and the struggles even the legends had to go through.

As for Hollywood, there was an offer. But I declined to do it because of certain moral and ethical values.

From my side, I don't put pressure on the director to cater to a certain image. I am happy to do different films, and I have to stick by my director. I like to completely surrender myself to the director - that way, I think, I don't get to do the similar roles.

I was the eldest child, so I know how it feels to have attention shared with a sibling.