“Categorisation of actors has become outdated now.”

Hug me like the wind does healing my heart, calming my soul, while it wraps every inch of me. Caressing my hair, it gives me goosebumps, as it whispers something that takes my breath away.

I auditioned for quite a lot of films. I do not wish to name the films I auditioned for. There were times when I knew I would not be fit for this film, or I would not get this film. Still, I used to audition for it just to get experience… to practice.

After a point, it doesn’t matter where you come from. There are many star kids who haven’t done well in the industry and rank newcomers who have done amazingly well.

False stories used to affect me initially. But now, I’ve come to understand that if false stories are created, they are also forgotten in the long run.

I come from a family of working professionals: my dad is a chartered accountant, and my mom is a professor.

I am just a beginner. The two films so far are baby steps. If I develop an attitude, I’ll be finished even before I’ve started. Besides, if I started misbehaving, my folks would give me a tight slap.

I have been a little lucky to get work. I know there are people who struggle a lot to get a film; I believe a lot in destiny. Things have fallen into place for me.

I was clear about the fact that my first film should be ‘big,’ since it’s the start of your whole career graph.

Women simply need to know the right technique of shaving to get the best results.

The more successful you become, the more known you become, everything you say is minutely scrutinised a lot.

My career is too short for there to be any turns! But I would say that not everyone is noticed and accepted in their debut films. I was accepted both by the industry and the audience.

When you don’t come from a film background, getting the right debut is important and difficult, as you don’t have the sensibility to know what will work and what won’t.

It’s better to focus on one film rather than take up two or three films at the same time.

It’s sad to be constantly judged for every move you make after your first success. If you wear your hair differently, you have changed.

I had learnt Kathak for six years from the age of eight and did a foundation course from Kathak Kendra in Delhi. I was not fond of classical dance, but today, I’m glad my mom made me do it.

I think every industry is a male-dominated industry. Whether it is Tollywood or Bollywood or India as a whole, it is male-dominated. We stay in India, and it has been patriarchal society.

As an African-American actor, a lot of our stories haven’t been told.

The basic essential of a great actor is that he loves himself in acting.

It’s important to keep challenging myself and try to come up with some new face every now and again.

This created world really helped me as an actor. It heightened everything, which made it more dangerous, more interesting and more liberating.

This created world really helped me as an actor. It heightened everything, which made it more dangerous, more interesting and more liberating.

That’s your job as the actor, to understand the human part of the character, to make it real.

That’s your job as the actor, to understand the human part of the character, to make it real.

It’s what I learn from the great actors that I work with. Stillness. That’s all and that’s the hardest thing.