I have a funny relationship to language. When I came to California when I was three I spoke Urdu fluently and I didn't speak a word of English. Within a few months I lost all my Urdu and spoke only English and then I learned Urdu all over again when I was nine. Urdu is my first language but it's not as good as my English and it's sort of become my third language. English is my best language but was the second language I learned.
A few words of Hindi appear here or there, but it's all Urdu. I feel that if the popular culture, which is what Hindi films are, uses Urdu, it's not going to diminish.
Now I know Hindi, and I can read and write Hindi, but the problem is that I can't improvise when I am acting because I think in English, so I have to translate my thinking from English to Hindi, and therefore, I speak slowly.
During the making of 'Abdullah' I asked the assistant director to teach me Hindi; he taught me to read the script too. He also taught me Urdu. Now I can sign autographs in Hindi, Urdu and can write my name in Tamil.
I used to do a lot of plays in English, Hindi, and Urdu. I wanted to be an actor since I was three and a half.
I would love to be a coach, mentor, or a batting consultant. I would love to commentate in Hindi, as most people who watch the game are more comfortable with Hindi in India rather than English.
I would love to host a television show.
Of course you cannot compare my Hindi with a Hindi-speaking person, but I am confident enough to hold a conversation in mixed Hindi-English.
As I am a Bengali and am used to conversing in Bengali and English, I thought my Hindi would show an accent.
While I am fluent in Hindi, I was a little worried about my accent. So when I was approached for 'Karwaan,' I told them they need to first listen to me speak in Hindi, in case it sounds off.
If you look at my life before I went into television, the struggle I went through coming out would be surprising to most people, given how comfortable and how out I am being the only late-night gay talk-show host.
I speak Hindi fluently because my mother speaks only in Hindi and Urdu.
My father was a very special human being. He was brilliant in academics, sports and the arts. He wrote, performed and directed plays in English and Hindi/Urdu at his regiment.
If you go back and look at the pilot of 'Seinfeld,' no one would have thought that show would be what it became, and television isn't given that kind of chance anymore.
Until we got married, Radha didn't utter a word of English and now she won't speak Hindi. Her Hindi's pretty good actually - she learnt it while watching Hindi movies.
I've got a chance to host a show called 'Redneck Island' on CMT. I love doing that show.