Tabu

“Coming from a middle-class family in Hyderabad, I was an introvert. I chose to be the way I am.”

“I laugh, cry, go for movies, eat popcorn. All these things are pretty relaxing for me.”

“Films like 'Shaan,' 'Sholay,' 'Muqaddar Ka Sikander' and so many others... they've been a part of my growing up years.”

“There is nothing wrong with commercial cinema if it is made well. In fact, if you ask me, the Hindi film industry has also produced some truly outstanding works over the years.”

“My fans tell me my height is my biggest asset.”

“I had read Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Namesake' and thought it would make a fabulous film, as I could identify with the central character. When Mira Nair announced the film, I wanted to do the role. When it fell into my lap, I was over the moon.”

“I can't do back-to-back films.”

“I have not done any film where my role didn't make sense.”

“I am not closed to any new ideas. But films are my first love.”

“I always maintain that the film industry and film people across the globe are more or less the same.”

“I come from a generation that had no monitors on the sets. You had to go with the director's conviction and be happy with it. I still work like that.”

“Frankly, my head can never be bloated.”

“Most stabilizing part of my career is that I have done all genres. I hate classification.”

“I did not want to do things the way they are usually done in Hindi cinema.”

“The first film I worked in was Dev Anand's 'Hum Naujawan.'Then I went back to school and college.”

“I try not to get typecast in any role, any image. I feel I can do justice to every kind of role, so why not make the best of it? See, commercial films alone can get you only so far. If you want to last as an actress, then you have to put in that extra bit of investment by doing off-beat films, too.”

“I never thought I was doing any great work. I never thought I would last. In the beginning, I was terrible. I never used to speak to people. I used to start crying. I was extra sensitive. I would run away home and feel miserable. I didn't know how to behave then. I was touchy. People interpreted it as arrogance.”

“I think every actor worth his or her salt wants to do good, meaningful cinema.”

“'Cheeni Kum' was one of the nicest experiences.”

“I avoid seeing my films as far as possible because if I don't like anything, I can't change it or do it again.”