“I want to do entertaining films, where a woman gets the respect of being an actor.”

I know I look good. The regular adjectives that come my way – sexy, hot, dusky, bong bombshell I love them.

You don’t have to do offbeat films to prove that you can act. I have done it but only to prove myself that I can fit convincingly into every kind of films. I want to do the 100 crore film where the hero does all the work, and I get to relax.

I’m really bad at taking compliments, but whenever I get them, I tell myself, ‘Way to go, girl’ and move on.

I actually wanted to be a doctor. But doing all those horrid rat dissections made me faint. I studied science till the 12th standard and later took up commerce. I was planning to do chartered accountancy, but fate had something else in store for me.

I can’t let the baggage of my private life get into work. Artists are more fragile than normal people. But I know that I am a role model for zillions of people, so no matter how deep you are hurting, you need to come out strong.

I do a film if it interests me, has a connect with the audience and some entertainment value. The rest doesn’t matter.

I am so enriched because so much has happened in my life. The way I can express myself is because of the life I have led. It’s only when you experience life can you emote it.

I have done some tacky films, but then they were all my decisions, and I’m happy to have made those because they have made me who I am.

I enjoy the TV series ‘Dexter,’ where there’s a reason for every kill. Quentin Tarantino is a favourite, and a ‘Kill Bill’ action-packed movie would be up my street. I’d love to be India’s first scream queen!

Whenever I get married, it will be a Bengali wedding. If I won’t have a Bengali wedding, my mother won’t come. She has warned me. So, I am going to have a Bengali wedding for sure.

As a child, I was a brat, and my parents didn’t know how to control me. So they told me ghost stories, which stayed with me. I am still petrified of darkness and being alone.

My wedding won’t be a hush-hush affair. When I get married, everyone will get to know about it… there’ll be nothing speculative about my wedding.

Certainly, I was typed. But what is typing? It is a trademark, a means by which the public recognizes you. Actors work all their lives to achieve that. I got mine with just one picture. It was a blessing.

When you work as actors in this business, you spend a lot of time apart. That’s why a lot of marriages fail. It’s not because of Hollywood, it’s because you don’t spend time together.

You don’t really have to dress a ton of actors. You don’t really have to spend a bunch of money lining up extras to look the time period.

Every actor-performer says this, and it sounds so irritating, but I’m not the most outgoing person.

Chicago actors are hard-nosed. They’re tough on themselves and their fellow actors. They’re self-demanding.

We’d go through the script together, rehearsing it before every shot with the other actors. He was just easy to work with. We were able to put it in my language, which was really important.

I started out as a very traditional actor. The first thing I ever did in terms of performance was singing.

What would I have done if I wasn’t an actor? Probably rob banks.