My family is almost exactly like the one in 'Monsoon Wedding'. We are very open, fairly liberal, loud people.

Bollywood actors are so set in what they want, and the way they want it. And why shouldn't they be? But it is not the same in Hollywood, because the love of the audience is not the same.

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.'

You've got to understand that in Bollywood, every actor is an instrument, and yet a human being. They come to the set with a set agenda, believing, 'This is who I am, this is what I want, and no, I am not going to become that character you want me to.'

It's only at this age that I can say the word 'art' without flinching.

Americans are not used to being bombed in their beds, but if you come from anywhere outside America, it's not highly unusual.

My family is almost exactly like the one in 'Monsoon Wedding'. We are very open, fairly liberal, loud people.