I have an interest in languages and make an effort to learn.

I did the Kannada film when just out of school. I didn't know anything about the South Indian film industry at that time, and I did the film to earn some pocket money. I realised then I like acting.

Fitness starts at home. What you eat is what you will look, just as what you sow is what you reap. Eat good food: eat fruits, vegetables, healthy grains, and don't go for sweet and trite food.

I would love to experiment with roles. But when people say that we are not doing anything different, it is because directors do not approach us with diverse roles.

We are in an industry where, unfortunately, there is very limited scope for female-oriented roles. If we don't have options, how can we pick and choose roles?

Hema ji is a dedicated artist and a perfectionist who continues to rehearse on her lines till she gets them right.

Events are the best opportunities to experiment with clothes, as we have to stick to a character in films.

After the Visakhapatnam and Araku shoot, I am leaving for Ahmedabad and Bangalore, followed by Hyderabad. This is the time I can work hard, so I never feel the pressure, as I am a workaholic.

Charan is very hard-working and non-egoistic, given the family he comes from. He is very open to listening, and he surrenders himself completely to the director. It was lovely to work with an actor like that.

I used to get 2000 as pocket money, and I was being offered a car and an opportunity to make lakhs, so I said a yes. I was a kid and got homesick over my 40-day schedule in Bangalore and decided that I would only do films in the South if they were 10-day roles.

I never feel insecure when there are two female leads.

When people say good things about me, judge me based on my behaviour and work, that makes me happier than a film's success would.

I don't know whether they will give me a project just because I am cooperative and behave nicely, but it really helps. I never demand for anything or never throw tantrums at work.

I am not in a hurry to do Hindi films. If it is destined, when it has to happen, it will.

Most of my work is based in Hyderabad, so it makes sense that I own a house here. Another reason I want a home here is because I want to have my own kitchen so that I can cook, since I hate food from hotels.

When I won't have work, say, after seven or eight years, or when I retire, I can't imagine leaving Hyderabad, because I love this city that much.

I'm open to all kind of scripts. As long as there's enough scope to perform, I'd take up the offer. In fact, before Yuvan and 'TT' happened, I got an opportunity to work with a top actor-director combination. But my height proved to be a setback.

I didn't comment on any actress, and I have never compared myself with any senior actresses. Moreover, I have said many times that I have learnt a lot from my seniors. Don't spread rumours and false news about me.

I am always friendly with my co-actors and even other actresses, too.

Working with Sukumar was amazing. He's someone who trusts his actors and allows them to experiment with dialogues and scenes. When you're working with him, you learn a lot subconsciously, and that helped me in discovering the actor within.

Sukumar comes from a very different school of working style. He never shoots with set dialogues and scenes. Most of it is improvised on the spot. He'd tell me, 'Rakul, if this is your character, how would you behave? Show me.'

Even though I've danced with actors, it wasn't the same with NTR.

Before the release of my film, small or big, the feeling is always the same.

I learnt tennis, swimming, basketball and several others, but the sport I loved the most was golf.

Some nights you walk off stage and go 'That was a good crowd.'

I don't get much respect from the industry in general, but that's OK. I didn't get into it for respect. I got into it to make people laugh, and that's what I'm doing. That's all I give a damn about.

The comedians I always loved and respected the most were always filthy degenerates.

When I was up for the film 'Dreamcatcher,' to play the role of an overweight kid, I was told I'm too fat to play the fat guy. That's like telling a Mexican to get a tan.

I loved 'Celebrity Fit Club,' working out six days a week, running a mile and a half three times a week, and doing 1,000 crunches and sit-ups a day with a trainer. I did too much, but I lost 78 pounds of fat and 18 inches around my waist in four months.

I've been enjoying classes at the gym, where people look at me because I'm fat. At the end of the workout, they're sucking air and I've beaten them because I have more heart, because I had it much harder.

I think there's a bias against fat people on network television.

My average fan works for about $20 per hour, if they are lucky enough to have a job. And then factoring in insurance, taxes and such, they're maybe bringing home $15 per hour. If my tickets are just under $30, it took them about two hours of their life to make the money to come see my show. Why shouldn't I give them two hours too?

I don't like being run out of any town.

I wouldn't want my comedy show to hurt anybody. I'm not Donald Trump.

I never wanted to be known as a fat comic, just a comic who happens to be fat.

Fat people are the only people you can still make fun of in this country.

I keep my nose clean. I let the drama go on with somebody else.

I've always been Ralphie, ever since I was a kid. My grandfather was Ralph. It suits me better to be Ralphie.

The overwhelming majority of my material has very little to do with my weight. It's certainly not the crux of my material.

I'm topical as hell. That's not going to change if I lose weight. There are a lot of comics that do 'fat jokes' better than I do - Louie Anderson, John Pinette, Gabriel Iglesias. These guys are phenomenal.

I didn't get into comedy to be loved by everybody.

When I do jokes that maybe are seen as social commentary, I research them to the nth degree. I probably do more research than I do actual joke writing. I want to make sure what I'm saying is correct.

You can have a poli-science degree but if you don't know people, it doesn't do you a bit of good when you're talking to someone.

When I get emotional about something, that's usually when funny comes.

I've never seen myself as a victim because of my physicality. If I did play that game, I wouldn't be the comedian that I am.

Comedy is not about appearance; it's about rockin' a mike. Are they laughing? That's the only test.

In my entire life I've spent maybe three weeks with my dad under the same roof.

People don't know where to place me, and I think that's why my audience is so big.

I've been shortchanged and overlooked my whole life. And if you boo-hoo about everything, that's all you're going to do your whole life.

My jokes aren't predicated on my weight that much. I talk about it some, but it's definitely not the focus, so I don't feel any pressure to stay big.