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.
'Dhol' has me in the second lead. But I wish to upgrade to playing lead roles and want to be in the league of respected actresses of the industry.
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.
Since I started as an actress in the film industry, I realised the power of visuals and how that can fuel the imagination of our mind. It is very powerful. Therefore, I always cater to my own sensibility first and then to the world.
'Masoom' was like a picnic for all of us. We kids just wanted to have fun acting in the film. We never realised when the film was completed. When we did, we realised the party was over.
There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people.
I can't pick one film industry over another because work is work. Actresses are targeted when say prefer one industry over another.
I realised after doing 'Tanu Weds Manu' that I had become fat and was not performing to the mark. I realised that I had become a terrible actor. I did 'Jodi Breakers,' which did not do well. So, I moved away from the film industry and lived with the common man to know where I was lacking and what do they want from an actor.
When I signed 'Guide,' my colleagues in the industry said that I was doing a big mistake. They even said that this might be my last film because that was the phase when actresses in the industry were portrayed as submissive women. We used to do love stories or family dramas where women were ideal in every role.
Truffaut loved actresses, and he was very intense. All the actresses I knew wanted to do a film with him.
The best thing my parents did was to make me study in Chennai. I was in a school where most others around me were also from film industry families so none of us realised what our parents were.
There are few teachers from the film industry to guide newcomers. One can see a gap between the film industry and those teaching at film schools.
In my opinion, having worked in the games industry and still keeping in touch with a lot of those guys, there was definitely a time when they saw themselves as the little brother of the film industry. But they kind of went off in a different direction and now see themselves, I think, as being far more interesting and ahead of the film industry. They haven't just caught up. They've gone off in a different direction and exceeded the film industry.
I realised what goes on in the egg industry and the dairy industry, so then I was like, 'That's it! Going vegan!' and I just kind of went cold turkey, basically.
Usually, I'll be auditioning for the third lead, and there will be Latina actresses, Indian actresses, African American actresses because it will be like, 'Let's check off this box. We have our lead white girl, and we need an ethnic slot.'
I find myself apologising for not being a proper actor. I never intended to be involved in the film industry and still do feel that, with the exception of a couple of brief skirmishes with the film industry.