I'm a city boy, born and brought up in Mumbai. I talk fast, have a certain sense of humour, and have grown up watching Jackie Chan movies.
In my own life, I share my home with works by artists like Elizabeth Murray, Martin Puryear, Jackie Windsor and so many others, whose creativity is clear and fresh and compelling; the works break through the usual, and they inspire creativity; they inspire responses and understanding.
My brothers and I had a gospel quartet, and that was the only music people listened to. But I was already gravitating towards songs by Sam Cooke, and then one day I put on a Jackie Wilson record, and baby, I was thrown right out of the house.
Not because I'm trying to be fabulous, but I love those big crazy Jackie O shades.
I wanted to tour the United States because I feel I owe it to the community that I grew up in. When I was growing up, the only people I saw on TV were Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Jet Li. Our representation as Asians wasn't big, but I wanted to be like Lucy Liu and then Maggie Q.
It's not every day you get to be in a movie about Jackie Robinson, so you want to do it as right as you can.
I liked Jackie Robinson because he was cool to watch, not because he was black. Every time you turned around, he was hitting a triple or making a great play in the field or, best of all, stealing home.
I guess what really made me a Dodgers fan from the beginning was that the team had Jackie Robinson, the first 'Negro' in the major leagues.
I certainly look at them very differently now, and enjoy Jackie Chan movies and movies like that.
Jackie Chan is so international. Everywhere you go, people know who he is. I hope I can be like that one day too - to be an actor that represents Asia to the world.
