Item numbers are a different ball game altogether. I feel no one in Mollywood has the guts or skill to film an item song, without making it look vulgar, as Amal Neerad can.

In director V K Prakash's 'Poppins,' I'll reprise the same role I did in its Kannada version.

No one can insist me to wear skimpy costumes and to act in steamy scenes just for the sake of pulling more audience to cinema halls.

I am never disappointed in life in not getting any awards: it is the movies which keep me going, not the awards.

I don't do movies for the awards. The awards are made for the films. The films are not made for the awards.

Nowhere in the world will you find a cowboy speaking in Tamil.

When you see the phase of 60s and 70s, the craze for Dev Anand and actors of that era, it still exists in south. The craze is huge but that's also for stars like Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal, especially for male stars.

There is a certain fictional element that goes in playing a common person.

I believe the #Metoo movement is here to stay.

However vain our entire political class or organizations are, in the name of cynicism we cannot bend towards authoritarian populism.

Our lives are better when we make the right choices through a heightened awareness of the world around us.

I sign films that have significance for my characters or are big entertainers.

Language is not a barrier, specially Hindi. It is the only language I read, write and speak in and so it is far easier than South Indian languages.

I love food and love cooking.

I have not tried enough to be in Bollywood.

I have always been a pan-Indian actress with pan-Indian taste.

I want to leave a deep impact of my acting in people's mind.

I want to be the Guru Dutt of the world.

Three months after reaching the U.S., hurricane Sandy struck, and I had to spend four days in the university shelter. Though I have worked for projects on environment displacement in the past, it was the first time that I actually experienced one and understood how attached one can be to your regular shelter.

As an actor, I just made the most of the opportunities that came my way and I owe it to my directors for having given me characters with substance, as I have never gone around asking for a role.

As an artiste, you get a high when you are given roles that are challenging.

I would love to do Malayalam films.

When the women in any other film industry are almost equal to men, in Malayalam only one or two women are among the crew.

As an actress I am totally open to offers as an individual and want to treat every opportunity with same spirit.

The reason why I returned to dance is simply because I love dance. I had also promised myself that I wanted to make more sense of dance, study and understand it far more in detail.

Kerala audience is different because their expectations are very high.

I think classical dance is not seeing the evolution seen by classical music.

See, modern dance forms have a pull because the youngsters can relate to it, but it makes me happy to say that in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, people still relate to classical art forms.

Professionally, I haven't done any film in 2013 as I was studying in NYU.

I am super lucky to have a resume which has all kinds of filmmakers and films and hence experiences as a person and actress for me.

If I am destined to do more Telugu films, I will.

'Striker' is a story of the human spirit triumphing over all odds.

I just cannot fathom the criteria and the eligibility for awards as there is an ocean of difference between the state and national awards.

Shwetha Menon is my good friend and I have nothing against her. But, the Kerala State Award for the Best Actress has been given to her for Paleri Manickam' in which somebody else dubbed for her. I received only the second best actress award for my performance in Pazhassi Raja,' where I have dubbed in my own voice.

Lack of dignity and equal opportunity at workplace for women in cinema is a truth that needs role reversal.

WCC is not an arbitrator, it's a collection of people who represent and protect the interest of women in cinema. We are an organisation that facilitates solutions for a just work space and don't see ourselves as arbitrators of justice.

Changing age old patriarchal mindsets is a difficult long process and involves constant communication and dialogue.

It wasn't because of Striker's bad performance that I didn't sign any film in Bollywood. There wasn't much to do in Bollywood, and the offers weren't great too.

I'm excited to work in Bollywood, but I want to be part of meaningful projects.

Apart from being an actor, I'm an academician. I wanted to pursue something with which I could bring about a change in society.

I'm an army kid with floating feet.

Hyderabad is home after all. This is where I grew up.

I would like to be part of all kind of cinema and will jump at any opportunity that allows me to experiment as an actor.

I am hungry as an actor.

I started dancing at a young age. When I became busy with films and studies, dance took a back seat. Also, it was constricting for someone like me, who is not religious, to do something which is so deified.

I felt I should get back to stage performances because I really enjoy them.

I don't believe in cutting down or increasing the number of films I do.

I am a greedy actor, and it upsets me losing work I have wanted to do, but that is a motivator not a dampener.

I have been part of films like Rajamanikyam' and Seniors,' which had genuine comedy and I am comfortable with the genre.

Tamil has given me an experience that's extremely rich from Vishnu's Pattiyal' to Chimbudevan's Irrumbakottai,' to even a small significant role in Ram's Thangameengal.'