“I’ve grown up watching Shah Rukh Khan and never really imagined that one day I will get to play the lead opposite him.”

I feel ups and downs are a part of one’s career, and this totally depends on how you take it. You can either be knocked down by the negative things, or you can take it in a positive way and learn from it.

Every film teaches you something; every experience on every film set with every co-star teaches you something. You learn something new. I think the challenge is to keep working harder and doing better.

I talk to my parents everyday and every move that I make, every endorsement that I do, every film that I do and my everyday activities are all discussed with them.

I am enjoying myself and I do not mind the loss of personal time and family time when I am doing good films.

When I am told that I am a huge star, I accept it, knowing that success is relative – the films I do have to work.

It feels nice to be wanted, to be reading and hearing good things about me, so I have to push myself.

I can walk into a room with all my contemporaries and I will be very comfortable.

I have a lot of friends, but my biggest fear is loneliness. I miss my family in Mumbai, and my biggest nightmare every day is to go back home alone.

I am not very comfortable about dancing at weddings and New Year parties. Maybe it’s because of the way I have been brought up; I wouldn’t want my family to feel that cringe moment. Dance is an art for me.

To live a life that is fueled by authenticity, purpose and empathy makes me happy.

Naina is one of the most special films & special characters that I’ve played in recent times

I always think before I speak. I’m not the sort who will just say anything that comes to my mind. I’m a very emotional and sensitive person. But I’m also very strong and know my mind well.

If two actors have an equal creative give and take between them, it translates beautifully on the screen.

The fruit of your own hard work is the sweetest.

When you look at a person, any person, everyone has a story. Everyone has gone through something that has changed their life. Anxiety, depression and panic attacks are not signs of weakness. They are signs of trying to remain strong for way too long.

I can go round the clock without sleep.

I can trust my friends… these people force me to examine myself, encourage me to grow.

Kids are great. That’s one of the best things about our business, all the kids you get to meet. It’s a shame they have to grow up to be regular people and come to the games and call you names.

Having grown up in a segregated environment in the south I know what it’s like to be stepped on, I know what it’s like also to see some black hero do well in the face of adversity.

I surround myself with trees in the hope I might become a  growing thing, too.

Throw dirt on me, and grow a wild flower

We’re focused on doing one thing incredibly well. If you look at other companies, all of these companies are doing a lot of different things but we’re still, as we grow, doing exactly one thing.

The past grew a beast in me so I set it free.

I’m scared to death of being poor. It’s like a fat girl who loses 500 pounds but is always fat inside. I grew up poor and will always feel poor inside. It’s my pet paranoia.