Quotes from Zoya Akhtar

I draw cinematic and photography and art references from everywhere. That's part of my job. So yes, you watch films, you see artists for palettes, photographers for mood.

This is kind of a dual existence where you are harsh but at the same time emotional. You are there because you have experienced trauma.

It is nice to be out there, amongst contemporaries on a global scale. You meet different people, see different things, meet different producers, eventually grow to collaborate in different ways. The world is getting smaller. It's nice not to be insular.

The whole class system has oppressed so many people and given them such lack of opportunity. They are fed such strong narratives that this is where you belong and this is where you are.

So, I have those spurts where I get completely mad because I have those stories to tell but if I don't have, I'm happy to kick back also.

Freedom is a sentiment associated with the youth. It is rebellion. It is what you feel at that age, and it is very important.

The class system in India is very hard, and it is very unfair.

I love music, but can't hold a note in a bucket. I can't sing, can't play an instrument.

I'm a writer, so I like nuances.

I had a press conference and I fell down on stage! Because I was in a skirt, dude. And there was this genius on stage and someone told me please sit and I went to sit and he pulled the chair off from under me! I did my whole thing, after that, I was really upset.

I want to make a period film, I want to make a film set in another country. I want to make a foreign film. I want to make everything eventually. I am a storyteller. I have many stories to tell.

Every time we have a woman on-screen, we can empower her in a different way rather than just giving a speech on the importance of equality and empowerment. I think sometimes we have to show her as powerful.

I feel like all my films have my politics. As a film-maker, whatever story you're telling, your value system comes out.

I had the best shooting experience in Dharavi. People are so cooperative and busy with their work that they don't have time to be star struck.

I have friends and experience from everywhere; I've worked in all kinds of locations and situations and in all kinds of job profiles, so there's a varied experience that comes handy. And there's something nice when you do something you've to push yourself to do it.

At 19, while studying at St Xavier's College and majoring in literature and sociology, I got my first job as a copywriter. It was at a company called the Script Shop.

As a director the first level of management is people. You have to deal with about 100 creative egos and make sure they subscribe to your vision and give you their best.

I come from a space where I wouldn't say all, but most of the films have really shortchanged women. I don't mean just the actresses, even just depicting us in that culture.

We are absolutely open to working with outside directors. But the criteria for working with outside directors would be the script they have, the kind of vision they have.

I like hip-hop personally. It is a genre I am very attached to and have been listening to all my life. But I have always engaged with foreign artistes, never with mainstream Indian hip-hop rap space.