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.
Kalki Koechlin
As a teenager, I was very awkward in my skin. I was never in the cool gang. I had braces and was quite the geek as well as a tomboy.
A director's job is like parenting. You have to look after your actors like children, pay attention to each of their different abilities.
I haven't been trying to lose weight. I wish I would put on some weight.
I, for one, personally like rom-coms, silly rom-coms, but at the same time, I also want to watch a documentary or an award-winning drama.
Theatre is my first love; I would not have done it if I didn't love it and certainly not for the money - you really have to believe in it.
In India, you can just show up at a friend's house, and they will feed you; you can borrow someone's clothes and touch each other. In London, they would say, 'Oh, let's meet for coffee at 4:15, and we will talk about, I don't know, this play that we saw.'
I don't even mind playing a bimbo or a silly girl, as long as it isn't stereotyped and there's a reason for that character to be part of the story.
Adults should be intelligent enough to know what they want - if you don't like it, then don't consume it. A rating system for kids and teens is more important. Especially for violent shows.
If you can't go for a honeymoon, steal a weekend and go somewhere. Anurag and I do it quite often. We switch off our phones and go for a small weekend getaway.
What makes us really human is it's in the presence of death that we start valuing life.
Everybody should read 'Slaughterhouse-Five' by Kurt Vonnegut. This book is about the hypocrisy of war, told in satire, and is hard-hitting and truthful.
In your 20s, you are worried about body issues, your weight, how you are dressed. In your 30s, you're like, 'Oh my God, I am getting old. I am going to enjoy everything.'
We can't let fear steer the way, dictate our lives.
I don't want to choose between commercial and independent cinema. I just want to choose between a good film and a bad film.
It is enough if I can be relevant. It is more about me keeping up with youngsters than influencing youngsters. So I just want to stay relevant, really.
A lot of people make fashion their whole life, which I think is not cool.
'Jia Aur Jia' is like my first proper fun, masti Bollywood film. I have a full-on dance number.
I think, no matter how successful you are, there is some struggle of one kind or the other for every actor at every level. There are times when your work progresses at an extremely slow pace.
When I was studying in London, I worked part-time as a waitress. I was teaching drama to kids. I did a lot of odd jobs to pay for my studies.
Being independent in my choices is important to me.
I want to work with as many directors as possible because with each director, you learn something new.
I think the glamour industry, all over the world, does portray a version that is 'Photoshopped' - a picture that is not very realistic.
There's nothing like performing for a live audience.
There is always going to be depth and layers to people and that's what interests me in a character: when there is some problem to overcome, when there is a complication to understand in a person.
I consider myself as a human being with lots of ups and downs and learning from a lot of failures before I can succeed.
I do not differentiate between a commercial and an indie project as long as there is a strong subject and the character in the script is relatable.
I, in particular, am in a confusing spot because I am Indian, but I am white, which people don't get. So often I find myself struggling to explain my Indianness.
Once I wanted to get into films, I took my time about it because when I first got to Bombay, I gave my photos and CDs to all the production houses. But the roles that came my way were the 'typical white girl dancing in the background' kind of roles, which I was not too interested in, or it was advertisements.
I think you're stereotyped after every film. Post 'Dev D,' I was only offered bold roles. Similarly, after 'Margarita With A Straw,' I was offered roles where I had to play differently-abled people. So, no matter what type of film you work in, people tend to slot you.
There's lots said about me. I have teeth that are way too big for my face or that I am too skinny for my own good... And I can safely say that I have three left feet. But there's nothing I can do about it. That's the way I look, and that's the way I was born.
In marriage, a woman becomes the weaker sex, even if her husband doesn't want her to be. This happens because of the way society has built the institution.
At home, my parents were quite old, so the surrounding was of elder people. There was no noise. Reading books was encouraged; TV was not encouraged, so I was the geeky, studious type of girl.
When your private life has been dragged into public space, you tend to attain a zen-like composure.
It's only over time that you get to exploring or adding nuances to the character. Like my part in 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' - I am so not the person who wears high heels and totters about like a poodle.
I feel, at times, women in India go beyond their comfort zone just to clad the trend, and that automatically becomes a faux pas. If you are not comfortable with something, please don't wear it.
When I have to be in public, I can't be in a bad mood.
My mum was quite strict, so I was in a very strict household.
Vulnerability is important in life, I feel. That's what allows you to experience intense emotions, whether it's joy or pain or sadness.
If you are a musician, you practise your instrument every day, but actors can't be on a set every day. Theatre is a way for me to keep practising my art form.
In Bollywood, it's always feast or famine for an actress. That's the way of the game.
People often think that I am funny and crazy, but I think they have also come to love me for it.
I love outdoor places in the evenings; I don't like box-like clubs.
Theatre is more metaphorical where you have to be louder and larger than life, whereas film is more subtle and more real.
I keep saying this: If you're not a feminist, you're a bad person.
I don't comment on everything; I don't comment on things I don't know enough about. I feel people should talk about something only if they feel strongly about them.
I like social media, as it cuts out the middleman. You can be yourself, you can't be misquoted, and it's also useful for me to get information about my theatre shows across to people.
We don't expect someone in a bikini to stand up for women's rights; we only expect a girl in an 'NGO outfit' to speak about it. It's as much as the right of the girl in the bikini to talk about it as a woman in a kurta. We need to embrace that multiplicity.
The country has double standards - it's obsessed with fair skin on one hand, but if the woman is white, she is expected to be loose-moraled.
I improvise a lot and try something new every couple of years.
