In the Indian film industry, especially those of us who are in mainstream cinema, we invariably play a typical hero's role. More often than not, we cater to the public perception. However, there is a latent desire in most actors to do a role where you can go all out and experiment.
Female success stories from sporting events like the Olympic Games have played a role in shifting the Indian perception to see the female athlete as a hero and a role model for young Indian girls.
I connect much more with theatre actors than with cinema actors - insofar as you can speak of 'cinema actors' in Mexico, because there isn't a big film industry.
Within the Arab circle there is a role wandering aimlessly in search of a hero. For some reason it seems to me that this role is beckoning to us-to move, to take up its lines, put on its costumes and give it life. Indeed, we are the only ones who can play it. The role is to spark the tremendous latent strengths in the region surrounding us to create a great power, which will then rise up to a level of dignity and undertake a positive part in building the future of mankind.
If you look at Indian cinema, it has always been about the 'hero.' So it is not just a characteristic of the Kannada film industry in particular. But one of the reasons to explain the 'hero-centrism' in our industry could be the fact that the audience here really enjoys the action sequences and the 'punch' dialogues.
Sanctions kept us on our toes, it made us realize that we were drifting into a situation of growing isolation so I wouldn't go as far as to say sanctions didn't play a role but if I were to put on a scale, the issues of conscience played a much greater role than the sanctions. We could have withstood sanctions for many more years. We became experts in circumventing sanctions... So sanctions played a role but it wasn't the major role.
I prefer the Telugu film industry, as women are respected more than they are in the Tamil film industry. In Tamil cinema, they care only about their hero, who is God.
In my career, I've often played the protagonist or the hero of the movie, and there are so many rules inherent to that role. The audience needs to stay with you, identify with you and like you. When you play the bad guy, those rules go out the window. There's so much freedom there.
I like my role in 'Akira,' which is a remake of a south Indian film. I play the role of a pregnant cop like the original. So, since it's the role of a pregnant cop, luckily I didn't have to do any stunts.
It was great to be able to play a hero in 'The Magnificent Seven' in a film industry where Asian actors are often limited to playing a villain.
In a typical Hindi film, there's the role of the hero, the heroine, and the other important character is the villain.
Music has a role, fashion has a role, cinema has a role, intellectuals have a role, parliamentarians, politicians, diplomats - all of it.
The film industry is large enough and has many successful icons that have taken Indian cinema to shores beyond India. I think that Indian cinema itself needs to be applauded beyond one individual.
Sometimes I've felt that the industry has typecast me as a certain kind of character. But then I think all it really takes is one role, the right role, to shake that up and change that perception.
I really believed that if I could play that character, who is grounded in the earth and the history of the United States - not the kind of role I usually play - it would help me change the perception out there and my own perception of what I can accomplish as a performer.
I'm dying to do a masala Bollywood film with typical song and dance. But having said that, my character in the film should have her own point of view. I won't play a role who has no brains.
I think typically you'd start in a supporting role or an ensemble role, or maybe even an off-Broadway role. So to come into a lead role on Broadway, especially taking over a role that has been played by two phenomenal actors in the past, that is some large shoes to fill.