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' because film wasn't even a dream. The community were very much like, 'How can you want to act? It's such a low-class profession.

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

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

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 - If you don't like them, fair enough.

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

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 ever make it in Hollywood, but my ethnicity has helped me.

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