In India, people love turmeric. They make turmeric milk, and sometimes I mix it with some cream or yogurt and turn it into a scrub. You'd be amazed at what it can take off your skin.

I never thought I am a stylish. For me, style is always a representation of what you want to wear but doing it in a unique way and expressing yourself. Every girl loves to be stylish.

I think there's a social responsibility that comes with a public platform. Because of the position that I've been put in, I think it's important to use my voice to do as much as I can.

There is no way I could have predicted the amazing reception and support that 'Quantico' has received this season or even the way that I have been welcomed into the fold here in America.

I was bullied by a freshman named Jeanine. She was black and supremely racist. Jeanine used to say, 'Brownie, go back to your country. You smell of curry,' or 'Do you smell curry coming?'

We spend too much time as people thinking about what we don't have instead of actually making a change, and we just need to make that change now because we're being giving the opportunity.

It's a terrible thing to say, and I probably shouldn't say it, but I'm a lazy person when it comes to physical exertion. I don't like gyms unless I need to for a movie or a part or a show.

I've been doing a lot of work on female rights, especially adolescent rights. I've been to a lot of schools where the UNICEF had set up villages in India, and it's an eye-opening experience.

When I was in school, you never saw anyone who looked like us that was on TV. And that was really weird for me because there's so many people of South Asian descent in America - in the world.

My father is conservative but has always supported my decisions. He lets me take my own decisions. His only condition while allowing me to come to Mumbai was that my mother must accompany me.

I owe 90 per cent of my life to people because I am a public figure, but 10 per cent is private to me. And I am not saying it in a defensive way. I feel my life has been made into a TV serial.

You like someone, you court each other, you get into a relationship. You're answerable to each other. Whereas, the non-answerability of dating, my God, I don't know if I would ever be able to.

I'm trying to be global and trying to push us, as a society, to becoming colorblind, and so I'm very grateful to ABC for casting me in 'Quantico.' It was based on my merit, not on my ethnicity.

One girl used to call me Brownie and tell me to go back to my own country. At lunch, I'd get a bag of chips from the vending machine and eat it in the storage room so I wouldn't have to see her.

If two of your films don't do well, people say you're out in the cold and your career is over. One film does well, and you've had the best year of your life! I don't believe in all that's written.

I taught myself confidence. When I'd walk into a room and feel scared to death, I'd tell myself, 'I'm not afraid of anybody.' And people believed me. You've got to teach yourself to take over the world.

I like buying drones, hover boards, 360-degree cameras and fabulous cars. I am a little bit like a boy. I also spend a lot on books. I am a voracious reader, and I love vintage stores and first editions.

After reaching season two on TV series, having done a film, and receiving acknowledgment in America, I feel like now whatever I do will be on me. My choices will be mine; my disappointments will be mine.

With feature films, it's a one-time judgment once your film is premiered. Reviews, box office, and then you move on to the next project. With TV, you are being rated and judged weekly for an eight-month stretch.

I believe destiny and hard work go hand in hand. I was studying to be an engineer when my mom and my brother sent my pictures for the Miss India contest. I didn't even know about it. If that isn't destiny, what is?

Art is collaboration: we are artists all over the world. I believe that people are always going to watch Hindi films... that's never going to die, but I think it's amazing that collaborations like that are happening.

I had a holding deal with ABC to find me a show, and I was very clear about the kind of show I wanted to do, because Indian people have always been seen as - well, we've been put in a box, about who we should be like.

I did not want to be the stereotype of either Bollywood or what Indian actors are usually offered. The exotic, beautiful girl, or the academically inclined nerd. And I wanted to play a lead... I didn't settle for less.

When I was little, my dad used to call me 'Bandarella,' because I was a mess - a Bandar is a monkey in Hindi. I was not a girly-girl and would always break something and would be running around and didn't really fit in.

To convince another part of the world that Bollywood is not just jokers who break into song and dance was very difficult. I'm literally ploughing the ground and making people understand that Indian actors are not a joke.

Whenever I pick a script, I make sure I'm choosing something I would want to watch. And 'Quantico' was something I'd definitely want to watch. As soon as I read the pilot - and I read 26 this season - I knew this was it.

I think art cannot be planned. The audience is too smart to get the dishonesty or 'too much planning' thing. I am not a legend, but I want to be one. I want to be known as an achiever. There is so much more that I can do.

I wanted to be cast because I'm an actor and not because of how I look or where I'm from. I'm brown. I want to be able to play a Spanish girl some day or a Mexican girl and learn the language. That's what actors do: we act.

Every character that I play, even if it's a homemaker, there is an inherent, innate strength in her - you can find strength in every facet of a female personality. It doesn't just come from the physical strength of a woman.

Bollywood is not a stepping stone to the West. I am extremely picky and in no hurry to sign a Hollywood film. I am only greedy for great roles; language and country is no barrier. And yes, I'll always be a Hindi film star first.

I think it was very important for me to look at starting to build a safety net so that I didn't feel the insecurity of the ups and downs of finances because I might do no film a year, or I might do six commercials, or I might do none.

In New York, a 13-year-old Indian girl came up to me crying, saying to everyone nearby, 'This is where I come from.' It's easy to forget that actors have the ability to instill a sense of self in viewers. That's the greatest compliment.

When I was 13, I would come visit my aunt and uncle in New York. I decided I wanted to live with them after seeing my cousin's school. Honestly, I just wanted to go to a school where I didn't have to wear uniforms, and my mom said okay.

I love what I do, and for me, acting can be anything. It could be in America. It could be in India. It could be in England. It could be anything. As long as it's an interesting part and an interesting opportunity, I would love to do it.

If more girls are educated, all of India stands to gain. The Girl Rising campaign aims to address that through various innovative initiatives that will not only help create awareness but also create a tangible platform to effect change.

When I'm not shooting, I don't wear much makeup. I just moisturize and maybe put on a berry-colored balm on my lips and cheeks, and then mascara - that's it. My face and hair gets abused every single day, so I try take it easy on off days.

When I was in high school in America, I didn't see anyone who looked like me - hardly ever. I just thought that was normal because you don't know any better. So I used to idolize so many other people, like Sarah Michelle Gellar on 'Buffy.'

I'm not even Indian-American: I'm Indian-Indian. Everybody expected me to have henna and a nose pin and talk in an accent like Apu from 'The Simpsons.' I was nervous because I wasn't sure if America was ready for a lead that looked like me.

Beauty and fashion are not really local anymore. You really have to be a global citizen to know what trends are. Now, it's pretty much the same designers and the same kind of trends, whether I am in New York, Milan, or Mumbai - it's the same.

Women are often told to have to be a certain way, to speak a certain way. The "norm" has been defined for many, many years, so it is very scary, especially for girls around the world who don't have the freedom and the opportunity to have a voice.

It's almost negligible sleep and insane amounts of plane rides, but I'm doing it. Your body is screaming out to you to not abuse it so much, but I love what I do in my Hindi films as well as with 'Quantico,' and I want to be able to balance both.

I think 'Baywatch' will be a summer blockbuster, and I'm not just saying it because I'm in it. I saw a bunch of scenes right now, and it's the funniest movie ever. Dwayne and Zac Efron have the best chemistry, and I come and interrupt their chemistry.

I was very sure I did not want to be the stereotype of what Indian people are seen as, which is Bollywood and henna. That's all great! It's what we are, and I love it. I love saris; I love music. I love henna; I love dancing, but that's not all we are.

I was very sure I did not want to be the stereotype of what Indian people are seen as, which is Bollywood, and henna. That’s all great! It’s what we are, and I love it. I love saris; I love music; I love henna; I love dancing, but that’s not all we are.

I got into the movies by accident. When I got an offer, I thought, 'Let's try this, too.' Everything in my life has happened by trial and error. I didn't even think I would win the Miss India title, so where's the question of thinking I'd come this far.

I'm a tough girl, I know what my job entails - it entails a lot more than standing in front of the camera. So I get it. I won't deny the physicality of it is exhausting, and sometimes my body just can't keep up. But it is ultimately about mind over matter.

I have great Indian genes! You know, I'm lazy. I want to take advantage of the fact that I have a great metabolism. When I start getting fat, I'll work on it! I like food, and I don't like the gym, and as long as I look like this without doing anything, why bother?

I always get stopped by security and immigration, telling me, 'Tell me who the terrorist is, or we won't stamp your passport!' The last time that somebody did that to me - at LAX, actually - I was like, 'Hey, don't ever ask a brown girl that in an American airport!'

So many people from the West are coming into India, all the studios have come into India, and they're making films here, whether that's Fox, Warner Bros, Disney, everyone. That stands as testament for us, so why are we afraid of sharing our talent with the world? We must.

I felt so out of place at the Miss India pageant. I had just come back from America, and I was told I needed to lose my American accent and learn the Queen's English, so I had to enunciate my vowels and speak well and eloquently. Giving up a New York accent is pretty hard.

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