Padmapriya Janakiraman

I am super lucky to have a resume which has all kinds of filmmakers and films and hence experiences as a person and actress for me.

I am hungry as an actor.

I would like to be part of all kind of cinema and will jump at any opportunity that allows me to experiment as an actor.

Apart from being an actor, I'm an academician. I wanted to pursue something with which I could bring about a change in society.

I'm excited to work in Bollywood, but I want to be part of meaningful projects.

It wasn't because of Striker's bad performance that I didn't sign any film in Bollywood. There wasn't much to do in Bollywood, and the offers weren't great too.

WCC is not an arbitrator, it's a collection of people who represent and protect the interest of women in cinema. We are an organisation that facilitates solutions for a just work space and don't see ourselves as arbitrators of justice.

Lack of dignity and equal opportunity at workplace for women in cinema is a truth that needs role reversal.

If the character you play on screen has to have life, you should dub in your own voice.

I just cannot fathom the criteria and the eligibility for awards as there is an ocean of difference between the state and national awards.

'Striker' is a story of the human spirit triumphing over all odds.

I was supposed to do Beautiful,' and when I watched the movie, I knew that I had missed out on a great opportunity.

If I am destined to do more Telugu films, I will.

Usually people are apprehensive about facing the camera for the first time. But for me, it was the most natural thing.

Professionally, I haven't done any film in 2013 as I was studying in NYU.

See, modern dance forms have a pull because the youngsters can relate to it, but it makes me happy to say that in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, people still relate to classical art forms.

I think classical dance is not seeing the evolution seen by classical music.

The reason why I returned to dance is simply because I love dance. I had also promised myself that I wanted to make more sense of dance, study and understand it far more in detail.

As an actress I am totally open to offers as an individual and want to treat every opportunity with same spirit.

When the women in any other film industry are almost equal to men, in Malayalam only one or two women are among the crew.

I would love to do Malayalam films.

I am extremely choosy about my roles as I want variety; I would like to work with the best of people.

As an artiste, you get a high when you are given roles that are challenging.

As an actor, I just made the most of the opportunities that came my way and I owe it to my directors for having given me characters with substance, as I have never gone around asking for a role.

My entry into films was forced, and I always had an affinity towards academics. Having said that, it is the artiste within that urged me to say yes to acting.

In any language, I would like to do my best!

In a crazy, high-pressure environment like a film set, eventually a peculiar kind of empathy develops for your co-workers.

The Weinstein story and the way it has shaken the roots of Hollywood has made apparent the fact that, across the world, there is a pressing need to recognize and correct the circumstances women subsist in, in order to move forward.

The Hegelian dynamic plays out daily on and off the film sets - women are not lesser beings, but because they are assumed to be, they are subjected to inferior conditions. And this inferiority projects itself through the feeling of weakness and subjugation.

It has been a fairy tale for an outsider, bouncing from one film set to another, choosing my films as assertively as those films chose me. And through this journey I have not once faced the dreaded syndrome of the 'casting couch.'

Anger, pain and a tinge of joy are the recursive emotions I have been waking up to ever since I read reports on how Harvey Weinstein sexually harassed women in Hollywood for years. Some of these women are actors I have been longing to co-star with even if they reside in another part of the globe.

In spite of its relatively nascent rise in popularity, tea joints across the country are romanticized, quite like beer pubs in the West.

I always celebrated my birthdays with my parents. There is no question of not being with them on that day.

I had a smooth take-off in Malayalam, I would like to explore more and take up films that are different in Tamil.

Cinema is a male-dominated bastion and one has to be patient.

I am not revolutionary or experimental, but I am curious and love to explore and indulge in life.

All my directors have tried to draw the best out of me at that point of time.

I am a director's actor. It is a director's medium, definitely. That doesn't mean I stop using my head.

Three months after reaching the U.S., hurricane Sandy struck, and I had to spend four days in the university shelter. Though I have worked for projects on environment displacement in the past, it was the first time that I actually experienced one and understood how attached one can be to your regular shelter.

I am not a good actor. There is much more to do and learn.

I have acted in 20 films in various languages and won 13 awards for my acting skills.

Malayalam actress Ann Augustine, director V K Prakash, writer Jayaprakah Kulur and I have planned to produce quality dramas and to take it to a wide range of audience. We are making some popular works into stage plays.

The only philosophy that I'm not confused about in life is love.

Yes, I have had more commercial success in Malayalam but that doesn't mean I can't do with more in Tamil.

I have been part of films like Rajamanikyam' and Seniors,' which had genuine comedy and I am comfortable with the genre.

I am a greedy actor, and it upsets me losing work I have wanted to do, but that is a motivator not a dampener.

Some years you have more work and some years less. That does not bother me. What matters is the end product.

I don't believe in cutting down or increasing the number of films I do.

I felt I should get back to stage performances because I really enjoy them.

I started dancing at a young age. When I became busy with films and studies, dance took a back seat. Also, it was constricting for someone like me, who is not religious, to do something which is so deified.