Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I want to try everything. I don't want to limit myself to anything. I want to discover as many characters as I can. I just want to explore.
Choosing to remain vulnerable and sensitive despite disappointments or heartbreak helps me stay authentic to my life. It is the hardest part.
I think most of my childhood, adolescence, and teenage years, I was struggling to feel validated - which led to a lot of my career choices as well.
I can't be selectively brave. I can't say something in the heat of the moment and then get scared when people raise their voice against my thoughts.
I am such a reclusive person that, literally, when I am done shooting, at some level I sort of disassociate myself, and I get back to reading my books.
Renowned people from all fields receive unnecessary flak so often. Anonymity is misused, and it is a terrible thing to want to break somebody's spirit.
I'm not obsessed with the idea of fame or lots of money or social power. I can actually do want I want to do - I'm free - isn't that the greatest prize?
Miss Earth, to me, means a lot more than an international beauty pageant. It implies a larger than life celebration of spirit, beauty, passion, and betterment.
Characters, like people, don't need to be right - only understood and, perhaps, accepted. We are all grey, lighter and darker, depending on our state of security.
Icons like Nagarjuna sir and Jagapati Babu sir have been so encouraging and shared such great energy, welcoming me into the Telugu film industry. It is motivating.
I've been living in Mumbai for a long time now, and the city has grown on me and even become my home for all practical reasons. But I'll always be a Vizag girl at heart.
Finding that people are searching for my name and work on IMDb, which is the biggest data base for movies and celebrities in the world, is immensely special and motivating.
I look forward to playing characters where I want to play the ordinary, to be honest... Farmer's wife, tailor's daughter, the teacher characters that exist for real emotions.
The day women begin to feel good about themselves, they will truly feel empowered, and only they can do that for themselves. It will happen the day we stop seeking validation.
If one wants to change the way things are, one has to take risks and be part of different kinds of cinema, despite not knowing how it will be received. That's what thrills me.
Acting made me realise this is me; this is what I always wanted to be. Even today, I am an awkward kid, and I feel most comfortable when I become a character before the camera.
Although I am a Telugu girl, I never felt that my debut in Telugu was delayed. I always wanted to be part of a good script, and I am pleased that 'Goodachari' hit the right notes.
Winning the Miss India Earth 2013 title proved to be a stepping stone for a career in modelling and, eventually, films, though I didn't aspire to become either a model or an actress.
In India, people tend to get categorised by their job or caste or colour. But in Kamathipura, despite their horrid living, it was truly eye-opening how kind and sensitive these women are.
When I started working in Mumbai, I was interested in working in the indie and niche spaces, as they do make really good cinema, driven by good stories. But then, I decided to explore everything possible.
Right after college, I participated in the Miss India contest and then went on to pursue modelling, as that seemed like the logical next step. But pretty soon, I started to feel stagnant in that profession.
Doing modeling was a fun thing for me. At a young age, being able to earn was exciting. I got to work with some very talented designers and models. But there was always a yearning in me to do something more.
My parents have always been supportive. I come from a very simple middle class family, where the upbringing is very traditional. So for them to give me the kind of freedom to exercise my choices is very fortunate for me.
Earlier, I would never focus on how I looked because I thought I was just 'OK.' So my focus was on being well-read, good in studies, school captain. My personality depended on what I read, not on some magical genetic thing.
As a full-time model, exciting opportunities came my way, and I was lucky to be featured in the Kingfisher Calendar 2014. This helped me get noticed, and I bagged assignments to walk the ramp for well-known Indian designers.
Anurag Sir is someone I have always looked up to and hoped to work with, like many other actors. It's a tremendous opportunity to be collaborating with him on my first film; I really feel fortunate. His conviction in me is very valuable.
My friend was interning at the Miss India office and asked me to go for an audition. I just wanted to clear one basic round to show it to my friends. 'I'm in this mind space, and I can do this, losers.' I cleared the first round, and then I wanted to do more.
I got my big break in Bollywood with Anurag Kashyap's 'Raman Raghav 2.0' when I got a call from one of the casting directors to appear for an audition. At that point, I didn't think that I would make the cut since I was auditioning for a Bollywood film for the very first time. Within an hour of the audition, I was told that I had been selected.