I should be accused of bias, but worldwide currently Pa [Amitabh Bachchan] is absolutely iconic, he is celebrated, he is respected. He definitely is deservedly iconic, and I say this without any bias, and if I am accused of it so be it.

I was studying to be an architect, I wasn't plotting to join the movies. Films were just another career option. I took acting up with the same schoolgirl enthusiasm I had for examinations. Acting is a job and I take it very seriously.

My biggest concern is always the students who are working toward a certain career - when they limit themselves to just that one option. They need to know that the world is huge - it's an ocean, and there are so many options. It's not the end of the world if they don't get to pursue an apparent childhood dream.

I've always been the kind of person that if I take on anything professionally it means commitment to me, so you take it on if you can commit to it and if you know you can accommodate and give your best to it and that's what you do, and I have always done that throughout my life - before marriage, after marriage, before motherhood, after motherhood.

Life will take its toll on all of us. We get injured, we get old. It's really sad to try to run away from these harsh realities of life. Looks are not everything. I am not going to look beautiful all the time.

The more you are blessed with experience, the fuller and the more enriched you are in your craft.

Aishwarya, my parents daughter, has been brought up with enough values inculcated where I will use my discretion in my choices. At the same time, I recognize I am an actor, I am an artist, and if I feel the need to be liberated and do the kind of work I need to do, I will.

With each film, I get more and more involved and it is more and more time-consuming. Also, I like to break myths and peoples preconceived ideas. My characters have always stood for something, have always had an opinion, although they've never really rebelled.

Weight gain can happen at any point in time, and it is something that you are dealing with anyway, and it is OK. It is ridiculous to have this dictate your very being because I have always said that it is not the outside that defines who you are.

By virtue of my job, I am traveling. You get to spend very little time with your family. We hardly get to meet each other except on the one odd day we really get to spend time, have dinner together. And that is rare, and we cherish it.

Even prior to marriage and motherhood, it is always been about prioritising and focusing on what you can commit to. That is been my approach to every aspect of my life, be it my relationships or my professional commitments.

I will not do something professionally just because someone is like, you know, this will shock people! Imagine seeing Aishwarya like this today. Please! That’s not a good enough reason.

It is unbelievable that people have the time and inclination to be as negative as they are on a public platform about people who accomplish whatever they do in the public eye.

Even in Indian cinema, there is so much work that I have accepted because I am comfortable and so much I have declined because I have not been comfortable.

I am really OK with the way I look. It is fine. All this is transient. I mean, it is really, you know, it changes with time, and that is the external.

I have always been a person who is extremely comfortable in my skin. I have always just been myself in all these years on the public platform.

The day I got married and I had a husband and in-laws in my life, my parents did not cease to be remotely less important or less my priority.

When it comes to food, I love my food, I am comfortable with my foods. I have never dieted. Never. I really enjoy food.

I just take on what I can commit to completely at that point in time, and that way you will be able to give your best.