We live in a country with a vast majority of people below the poverty line. Our natural resources are limited and getting scarcer.
— Amala Akkineni
I know what it is to be a mother of sons in real life.
Only a niche section of parents allow their children to take up courses on film and television.
My life is rich in experiences and opportunities and I am living it to the fullest.
My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds and buffaloes everywhere.
My mom is Irish. She is a poet and a humanitarian who believed in ensuring that people around her had a better life.
I tend to gravitate towards very simple, minimalistic styles.
Nobody realises that speaking Malayalam is a big challenge for me.
It helps to have a fit body if you are meditating. Yoga conditions the body so that the mind can meditate.
I do not make resolutions for New Year, but visualise and plan things.
A whole generation is moving away from highly ritualistic practices into a more thinking, spiritual process. By spiritual, I don't refer to a cult or a guru. In your heart, you continue to feel the presence of people who've been dear to you even after they've left.
War is such a wasteful activity.
There's no denying that my popularity helped me a lot.
Personally, I have met many widows who've been thrown out of their homes. I had done a fund-raising event to help widows supported by Bala Vikasa group in Warangal.
There's innocence in a young mind, say 18 or 21, writing a script. But we have to acknowledge that they have to open up to life's experiences to be able to add those layers of depth into the script.
I can't hang out for roles but if something meaningful comes my way I don't say no.
While growing up we all did our own work' I remember, we had a sign on our bathroom door which said 'Gandhiji cleaned his own bathrooms, so must you.'
I love saris from Shravan Kumar.
I pick up pieces at Fabindia or The Deccan Story in Hyderabad. The owner of the store, Keerthi Reddy, does lovely customised outfits, including khadi kurtas with a soft lining.
I love pushing myself and I think being in a comfort zone perennially can restrict your growth.
I was at my wit's end trying to solve the world's problems. I was frustrated that I could do very little. That frustration took me to Vipassana.
A story has to have several layers to sustain audience interest in each episode.
We all go through phases; in one such phase, I was interested to know about the psychic phenomenon.
What I find most deplorable is cruelty of spirit - racism, casteism, and religious or social prejudice.
I don't feel the need to act. But if I really like the role and it doesn't demand much of my time, maybe.
Most parents feel traditional professional courses will give their children a stable future.
You have to be innovative and creative to make yourself employable.
Like Hyderabad you can't shoot outside in summers. Similarly, Delhi gets scorching in summers.
My father was from East Bengal. Having lost everything to the Partition, he came as a refugee.
Rukmini Devi was an icon for all the Bharat Natyam students at Kalakshetra. I grew up watching her at dance school and I associate her style with grace and humility - it's never the clothes, it's the persona.
People love a good thriller that makes them sit on their edge of their seats.
As an actor, you are always looking for something different and challenging... 'High Priestess' gave me that rare opportunity.
Birds and animals in the wild migrate every year to safer and nurturing pastures, leaving behind the old environment. After nurturing their young ones, they return to thrive in the old environs. I use that analogy to meditate. You migrate to your inner soul, nurture the strength, light and creativity there, and return.
I was extremely close to my mother-in-law and after she, and later my father-in-law passed away, I continue to feel their presence.
Nelson Mandela, Dada Vaswani, Harsh Mander, Shabana Azmi - I admire their humanitarian work. But sadly even Nelson Mandela could not keep corruption out of his cabinet and within a year, I am told, the victims of apartheid turned into perpetrators of corruption on their own people. Greed has no boundaries of colour or country does it?
There's is a fine line between living one's truth and looking good.
