Padmapriya Janakiraman

“The state of Kerala and Malayalam film industry has been like a home to me ever since I started my career as an actress.”

“Lack of dignity and equal opportunity at workplace for women in cinema is a truth that needs role reversal.”

“The Weinstein story and the way it has shaken the roots of Hollywood has made apparent the fact that, across the world, there is a pressing need to recognize and correct the circumstances women subsist in, in order to move forward.”

“Changing age old patriarchal mindsets is a difficult long process and involves constant communication and dialogue.”

“I sign films that have significance for my characters or are big entertainers.”

“To create a new resume of films and expressions is the only focal point for 2014 for me.”

“I love food and love cooking.”

“As an actor, I just made the most of the opportunities that came my way and I owe it to my directors for having given me characters with substance, as I have never gone around asking for a role.”

“I just cannot fathom the criteria and the eligibility for awards as there is an ocean of difference between the state and national awards.”

“When you have a meaty character to play opposite an actor you like, it becomes a memorable experience.”

“In director V K Prakash's 'Poppins,' I'll reprise the same role I did in its Kannada version.”

“In spite of its relatively nascent rise in popularity, tea joints across the country are romanticized, quite like beer pubs in the West.”

“The reason why I returned to dance is simply because I love dance. I had also promised myself that I wanted to make more sense of dance, study and understand it far more in detail.”

“There is a certain fictional element that goes in playing a common person.”

“In a crazy, high-pressure environment like a film set, eventually a peculiar kind of empathy develops for your co-workers.”

“I hate flashy metrosexual men. I prefer a rustic man who will make a long-time companion.”

“If the character you play on screen has to have life, you should dub in your own voice.”

“The starting point of social movements stems from deep pain and intolerance towards loss already incurred and hence any gain including just voicing the injustice empowers the movement and everybody else around them.”

“I am basically a theatre artiste. However, after stepping into cinema, I did not get much opportunity to act in plays.”

“I've never been linked to a co-star or director, never had drunken stupors or been disrespectful of a producer's position. I don't have parents intruding in filmmaking affairs and so on. I'm a professional and like to look at myself that way.”