I think that theater is the closest medium to music. It's very pure. It's for the elite of the society. It's not for everyone in the society.

I see screenwriting as a bit like a math equation which I have to solve.

One of the biggest blessings in my life is that I have a very wonderful family, a lovely wife and two lovely daughters.

I really think that people who want to think more serious have to go and watch theater. Theater is a very sterilized art form. Not as much as music, but very close to music.

Whether we like it or not, the modernity is something that comes from Western countries, and when the modernity comes to the Eastern countries, although they feel like they really need it, at the same time it shakes the very fundament of the culture - there is always this challenge between the two.

These days, more than any other time, we are worried about our personal life, our private life. When we talk about our private life, it means our home, our body even. It seems that when we want to have calmness in this world, we make a wall around us. This gives us a very calm environment, and when we feel that somebody is intruding into that, it makes us very angry and we feel we have to do something about it.

I prefer to stay in my country. But this doesn't mean if someone does want to leave Iran, I think they've done something wrong - the desire to leave is completely understandable.