Actress

My mother has done a great job with her kids. The daily struggle of raising three daughters with a very limited income yet seeing to it that they get a good upbringing, giving her daughters wings even after not being so educated - that person is my hero.

Incorporating small changes/additions in one's daily routine can have a big impact. For example, eating a healthy diet, including a handful of almonds every day and a regular exercise regime, not only helps me maintain a healthy life but also balance both my family's health as well as my own.

Every time I feel fearful of something now, I do it.

My memories of the whirlwind '90s are a blur of work schedules. I was completing my B. Com. degree in 1991 when I took to modelling and acting in TV serials. A year later, I found my foothold in movies.

For a movie actor, the biggest challenge on TV is the number of close-up shots.

My mother-in-law thinks I'm more beautiful than all the other faces around. She keeps encouraging me to take up more work.

I have immense amount of respect for women who leave their kids and go to work because they have to. They don't have a choice. I couldn't have done that.

When I shaved my hair, my friends asked me to keep it, maybe make my own wig out of it, but I wanted the old hair to go; it was not mine. I wanted to let go.

The upbringing my parents gave me has got me through the ups and downs in my life. My parents always believed that children need to be compassionate and caring human beings above anything. I wish and hope the same for my son Ranveer.

Until Ranveer was born in August 2005, three years into our marriage, I was working in Hindi or South Indian films. After marriage, I began learning how to run a house. My mother wanted to teach me the basics, but I was never home. So when my mother-in-law taught me chores, it was hard to adjust.

Getting married and having children is an evolution process, a live social experiment no one is documenting.

I have fond memories of consuming a handful of almonds that were soaked the previous night and peeled the next morning. All through my school life, my mother would ensure she kept some almonds in my tiffin box so that I would always have my daily dose of nutrition handy.

Personally, I wear a lot of my mother-in-law's chiffons and my mother's silk. But when I buy saris for myself, then they have to be understated.

There should be a sequel to 'Sarfarosh'. It was a different film.

Unless you are aggressive, you will never become number one.

My writing did turn out to be quite intact, as it has all my experiences gathered at one place.

I think I've been pretty private as a person. Nobody really knows me.

There's a hidden Goth in me: I have a dark sense of humour; I have a dark sense of fashion.

As I started parenting, I realised there is no formula to it.

I read anything and everything. Comfort food for my brain is fantasy fiction or science fiction.