I love roles where I have to transform myself.

I’d love to say I made the smart decision of picking projects that became hits, but with ‘The Good Wife,’ I read the script and something inside me said, ‘I love this, I want to...

Luckily my parents were not against my ambition, they’ve always been very supportive. But they were adamant that I went to university first.

You can have all the agents and publicists in the world but no one’s ever going to give you 110 per cent like someone who loves you.

Sometimes my ethnicity is relevant, other times not. I definitely get the best of both worlds.

Coming to New York is like a big hug, everyone is so welcoming. There’s something about here, everyone makes you feel so at home. I miss my family of course, but I don’t miss London...

I knew what I wanted to do for my entire life, from nursery to university. I’ve always been geared towards wanting to act. I’ve stuck with it, dedicated time to it.

I’d love to do a romantic comedy. And perhaps, if the character was right and I had a good gut instinct, a Bollywood movie. And I’d love to direct. One day. I’m learning a lot...

I had a dialect coach to get an American accent, and then another dialect coach to come off it a bit. There is something deep and mysterious in the voice when it isn’t too high-pitched...

I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an actor. I never even thought about other careers. The acting field is certainly not the path many Indian parents encourage their children to...

I am still married, yes – no children. I have Benzo, though; he’s my dog, a Lhasa apso.

I have always let the lack of Indian actors in the industry drive me, not hold me back. I remember an agent in L.A. telling me a few years ago that an Indian actor wouldn’t...

I went to Brunel University and very much wanted to go on to do a PhD in management, but then my acting career started to take off. In those days when you switched on the...

I went out for a film where they wanted seven brothers and one sister, so I was there for half a day while they were waiting for ‘Archie’ to read for a boy… I’ve had...

My mother told me not to listen to anyone. She had been told that she wouldn’t be able to teach and she did.

Since I was a baby my goal was to be on TV because film was just impossible – you never got any Asian women in Western cinema. I grew up wanting to be in ‘East-Enders’...

My mother wanted to be a teacher when she was young, and my father didn’t approve of it, so she fought very hard to become one. And she did it. So when I said I...

I don’t ever want to be hugely famous because I had a little taste of it after ‘East Is East’ and ‘Bend It.’

The generation that migrated to the West in the 1970s or 1960s has now lived more in the West than India, and India has changed so much. My parents fall into that category.

When I was younger I was fat. I was never conscious of it and was content with who I was because I was so loved. My mother never told me to lose weight and my...

I remember sitting in school and thinking, ‘I don’t know why I’m here, because I know I’m going to act and I know I’m going to America.’

There is a big misconception about arranged marriage. Yes, it can mean that you meet someone and then have to marry them, but this was my mother saying, ‘I’m going to introduce you to so-and-so...

At the end of the week, it’s nice to just hang out in a pair of jeans and let my hair down. I need a break from all that fashion!

I think it is vital to fight to do something you want to do despite not gaining your community’s or your friends’ approval.

I like to do new things, so I always take on roles that I feel will keep me on my toes. I never want to pigeon myself, so I always like to surprise myself. I...

You have this impression from England that New Yorkers can be quite aggressive, but certainly the people that I’ve bumped into and the friends I’ve made here don’t seem that way. Just walking down the...

I loved eating and I did put on weight. I never actually felt fat until I started going for castings, for auditions.

It was the success of ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ which got my name out there. ‘A Mighty Heart’ also helped.

The predictable thing about ‘The Good Wife’ is how unpredictable ‘The Good Wife’ is.

I am one of the new characters in the brand new series of ‘Postman Pat.’ It has been a joy to do.

I feel like I have one foot in New York, one foot in London and one foot in India. But it’s important to me to invest time with family.

I’ve always been quite psychic and believe there’s a reason why things happen and that we need to learn from them.

I like to cook Indian food when I can. I find the process of creating a home-cooked meal to be unwinding.