In our house we say 'adolescence' is a western word. We don't believe in it.

I grew up in a small town in India, but through books I knew the world.

Truth is more peculiar than fiction. Life is really a startling place.

I am still attracted to stories about people who are considered to be on the outside of society. I still seek inspiration from those stories.

You know, the sad thing of post-9/11, which was of course horrific, was that the city in which I felt completely at home for two decades, suddenly people like us - brown people - were looked at as the 'Others.'

I am an independent film-maker first and foremost. I have always cut my own cloth.

Never take no for answer, and try to make films that turn you on.