For me, going to the gym for an hour is important not because I appear on screen, but because I am healthy.
I am not into the mother sentiment, really. My heart is not into this ideal mother role; it does not work for me.
Often our onscreen personas are different from who we are. Actors like Kamal Haasan, who is such a genius, has never played a role close to what he is in real life.
I only like non-fiction. After 30 pages of fiction, I think: what nonsense are they trying to write.
I stopped seeing mainstream films 15 years ago. They are absolutely unbearable.
How can anyone say no to be a part in a film like 'Ramanujan?'
People who are close me know I have a funny side.
Not many people know that I turned down my husband's first directorial, the Kannada film 'Pallavi Anupallavi,' something he still hasn't forgiven me for.
If you are making a film for the first time, you have all the problems and fears. Yet, you have the freedom that you will never get in life.
In Chennai, I do film reviews for a local channel. Every second movie I review is by a debutant. There is so much passion and freshness in those films; that makes them special.
The business of looking good is very difficult. This has often made me consider retirement from films.
I got a Best Actress award from the Kerala government when I was 24, and I got another one when I was 42. I was more thrilled when I got it for the second time.
With summer in Chennai, I am struggling with my long hair. I do my own hair-dos which are comfortable.
We know of instances of stage plays being made into films. But I really think that all Tamil films can be staged; I'd like to take up K. Balachander's films and do that.
I come from a family with many dancers, my aunts learnt dance, so did Kamal Haasan and, as a child I learnt it, too.
I'm very happy that Kathryn Bigelow has become the first woman in the 82-year history of the Oscars to earn Hollywood's top prize for filmmakers.
I think as film actors we are comfortable on stage because we know what the audience expects. The only tricky part is to remember the lines and that body language is key, which is something we tend to forget after years of acting in front of a camera.
