It was been an absolute joy being in 'The Vagina Monologues' for so many years. I think the play is truly special.
As a society, we need to create an environment that encourages women to make the choices that are available to them and encourages them to speak their mind.
No matter what situation you are in, if you need help, you should be able to ask for it.
In fact, it is more interesting to play someone whose politics is not in sync with my own politics because then I have to understand a different kind of mind and that becomes more interesting as an actor.
If the story is insensitive to a person and is not nuanced enough, that's a story I don't want to be a part of. Otherwise there is no other character that I don't want to play.
'Slice of life' is not a genre I had experimented with much, and it's quite difficult.
I think we're still struggling to find a way of depicting women that doesn't objectify them.
When you disagree with somebody else, they often tend to get very defensive. But that doesn't stop me from doing the kind of work that I want to do.
In the digital space, writers and directors get time to build and establish a character.
Whenever I work on a role, I always allow it to subconsciously take me to a place that is magical and unexpected, rather than consciously driving it to a place.
But honestly, much of the work that I have done has had some impact on me. It's something that I have realised only later. I also find it amusing that the memories of actors are so consciously constructed around what happened to that piece of work, in terms of audience reception or box-office results.
I just got an opportunity to do that with a film called 'Lootcase', and it's an opportunity that I am really grateful for.
Salaam Bombay' and 'Monsoon Wedding' are the two Mira Nair films I go back to.
The way you get to explore a city when you are on shoot is so different from when you are there as a tourist.
Sometimes you read the script and you feel that this is a challenging role but at times you feel that this one was written for me.
You can't understand a character intellectually, you have to become one with its emotional core.
Over-articulation kills the character because it becomes one thing and that is not how it happens in life and it is not beautiful to watch on screen either.
As an actor, it is my job to prepare for the role I am playing.
I feel it's important to familiarize yourself with the world that the character inhabits.
I've been fortunate with the kind of work I've done, in terms of quality. But a lot of work didn't get the kind of release and attention that it deserved. And, I feel little let down by our distribution system.
A good working relationship between an actor and the director is very important. It takes a while to build a comfort zone because filmmaking is a long process so it is important to connect with people you work with.
The biggest quality of good actors is that they know how to respect their co-actors, whether they are as big a name as them or not.
But having said that, becoming an actor was the best decision I ever made. With its ups and downs and its craziness, nothing makes me happier in life.
I am a serial class taker. I take classes for anything and everything!
My general idea about my work is that it's more about the work than the things that come with it. I am constantly striving to improve on that and find new things to do there. That journey itself is so interesting is because there's so much to do that there's no room for doubt there.
