I tend to have a pattern of playing misunderstood characters.

I think I hid my singing talent from a lot of my friends at school because I didn't want to alienate anyone. If everyone was singing along in the car to a Madonna song, I didn't join in because when we're younger we're afraid of sticking out or showing off, when in fact we should own those things that make us really unique.

I always like to sing barefoot.

'Rent,' for me, was a significant time in my life because it was my first break. It was my first professional job. I also met my husband in that cast, Taye Diggs.

I don't think I ever really knew the right words to 'Hava Nagilah,' which isn't great for a Jewish singer.

The more success you get, you start to be harder on yourself or more afraid of the looking glass. You have to learn to build a thicker skin because people are paying more attention.

Performing live on stage is such a community, whether it's my musicians or a cast of a show that I'm in. And then when you're in the studio or on set, it's a much more solitary experience. Both can serve me at different times in my life. And when I go back and forth from one to the other, it helps me appreciate all of them much better.

It's the face and the body and the thing that we hide inside that can keep us from the world, but my voice is my voice.

I've met so many of my idols, but the one person that has eluded me is Bono. But because he's done 'Spider-Man,' I keep thinking maybe, through a Broadway connection, somehow our paths will eventually merge.

I pretty much have no life outside of the theatre. I go home every night, and I put the TV on, and I veg out and order food.

That's what I love about songwriting - that you can write something about your own experiences and think it's completely specific to you, and then people can take away a completely different meaning for themselves. I really love that. I think you've been successful at writing a song when it has a larger life than yourself.

I was once an extra in a Bruce Springsteen video where they did a live performance video at Tramps. I forget the name of the song.

I definitely use my music to kind of alleviate my stress and get me through specific moments in time where I'm just being really tough on myself.

I love my husband very much. I knew it was real true love because I felt like I could be myself around that person. Your true, true innermost authentic self, the stuff you don't let anyone else see, if you can be that way with that person, I think that that's real love.

You can't be the vulnerable, transparent, raw person required to be an artist, and then cover that stuff up and meet the world with some kind of armor on. It just doesn't go.

Who am I, if I'm not this singer with big high notes? I identify with my voice. But I'm more than just the acrobatics.

For singers, I believe we can sing in a lot of keys. I know I have this big range, but the point is to find a key that emotionally connects people.

Love yourself for who you are, and trust me, if you are happy from within, you are the most beautiful person, and your smile is your best asset.

You are a human being and are allowed to be imperfect, and you are allowed to be flawed. There is a lot of beauty in your imperfections, in your uniqueness.

I had a different perception of what a relationship or love is like. I was all giddy-headed and fairytale about it in my head, but it's so different. There's a lot of restraint that you've got to have, compromising in certain situations - and you've got to have a lot of respect.

I don't want my personal life to become a part of public domain. It is something that is sacred and means a lot to me. I don't want it to become some frivolous gossip column.

I think marriage is beautiful, but I have mixed feelings about it.

I was always a very self-conscious person and was picked on for my body type. I used to feel low and sad all the time, but didn't know I was suffering from depression and Body Dysmorphic Disorder till I got help.

I'm happy I'm doing films at a slow pace rather than doing anything and everything.

I don't think I will ever understand Bollywood. And I'm happy about that because it is a big, crazy, world. It's too complicated and chaotic to understand.

I like being thrown out of my comfort zone.

I do use social media as a gateway into my personal life, but only to a certain extent. When I don't want to, I pull the blinds down.

My father worked as a mechanical draftsman at Mazagaon Docks and is a Catholic. My mum was a Muslim, so my parents broke quite a few rules to get married.

When I first started out in Telugu cinema, I signed anything and everything that came my way. I was 18, was immature, and it felt like a good idea that 'Oh, they are paying me a good amount of money.' I was young, naive; I had zero ambition, and honestly, it wasn't my calling.

I like that with social media, you can choose how much you want to reveal. If there is an issue that requires clarification, at least you can turn to social media. You know it's coming from the horse's mouth.

In the end, only a good actor stands out; if I am not a good actor, I won't stand out.

You can call me a Mumbai girl since I have spent the first ten years of my life here. Then I shifted to Goa, where I got my first modelling break.

If you are visible in the whole film, but there is no depth in your role, then the role is not significant.

When I have actors flirting with me in acting, in my head, I am thinking, 'If I flirt back, I could definitely land a film with this guy. If I consider going to his house for drinks, considering he has invited me, I could definitely get a film with him.' But I just don't want to do that.

There are some actors that I know I won't do a film with no matter how good the film is.

I like my smile.

I enjoyed every experience that life offers.

I don't think I constantly have to be on a promotional spree or be seen in the newspapers every day or even be part of social parties and film gangs. I'm having my own set of journey, and I am happy with it because I don't want to be like everybody.

I loved playing Sweetie in 'Mubarakan.' It was chaotic and funny; it was sort of a magnum unfold in a chaotic way.

It makes it so much easier to work with people who you can implicitly trust.

For me, a very chilled out day would be me on my couch or cooking, sitting with one or two friends watching TV or films over a glass of wine.

I'm a beach bum, so I'm more comfortable in western wear.

Imperfections are a part of life, and one should learn to love who you are.

I am glad that after 'Rustom,' I did 'Mubarakan' and then 'Baadshaho,' as it explores my range as an actor.

I love wearing very simple colours.

Films happened to me accidentally when I met Marc Robinson in a hotel in Goa, where my mum worked as a supervisor. I would often go there, and the manager there would see me and tell my mom that I should try being a model.

I do not like to be told what to do, but in the end, I take my own decisions.

The elegance of a sari or the flirtiness of a lehenga is matchless.

The reason I did 'PPNH' was because I wanted to do something different, wacky, and mainstream after 'Barfi!'

I've got every possible thing I could want. And I wondered, 'Why am I so depressed?' I still don't know sometimes.