We have three generations at home, including my father-in-law. I keep a very low profile, and a lot of things I do are very much with the family in mind. I have actually made films with the family around me.

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.'

Creative freedom is an imperative for me, but it doesn't really exist in a Hollywood game.

What is really important to me is a sense of humour and a mischief about life. Life is just too boring otherwise.

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.

If we don't tell our own stories, no one else will.

Christmas lights may be the loneliest thing for me, especially if you mix them up with reindeers and sleighs. I feel alone. I feel isolated. I feel I do not belong.