Ram Gopal Varma

We are born, we are tended to by our parents, spend years at school and college without having the faintest idea of what education means. That’s because our parents place an emphasis on securing good marks at the examinations. Period.

I am sure fear stems from the threat of emotional or physical violence. This fear is heightened, especially if it comes from an unknown or unfathomable source.

Chitti, a cousin of mine, had this brainwave of opening a bar-cum-restaurant on Mehdi Patnam Road in Hyderabad. Despite a huge housing colony on that road, there wasn’t a single bar in the vicinity. With an investment of `20 lakh, he claimed that he would make a profit of at least `1 crore in the very first year. It sounded fantastic, I wished him all the best.

Philosopher Spinoza has said, “If you throw a stone up in the air and if the stone has a certain amount of consciousness it will fly in accordance with its own wish.”

I had never read reviews beyond those in three to four editions of Mumbai newspapers. I thought that was it. But on the internet there are literally hundreds of reviews. When I went through them, I was amazed by the sheer diversity of

The media reports news. For it to grab your attention, the print and electronic media has to make the news sound as dramatic as possible to stay in business and make money.

I am fascinated with how cycles of fortune throw people in and out of dustbins. While recording the background music of my first film, a violin player from a group of musicians came up to me and said that my film would become a huge hit. That was the first compliment I ever received in my life.

You see with the sense of sight, you hear with the sense of hearing, you feel with the sense of your touch. And all these senses are nothing but the functions of your mind.

My grandfather was obsessed with saving money. For hours, he would explain the recurring deposit scheme to turn `1 lakh into `5 lakhs in seven years. He would waste his time and mine because I did not think beyond a day.

Once I had to travel from Hyderabad to Chennai in connection with a film I was making at the time. Someone very close to me asked me not to go because it was her birthday the next day.