Queen' is an interesting film, and I have always been motivated by roles that help alleviate women empowerment in some form.

Every actor, male or female, is paid what he or she is worth. There is no inflated sum or underpaying in the industry.

I am indeed fortunate to work with some reputed directors like Balaji Sakthivel, Sekhar Kammula, and KV Anand sir. Each one of them has a different style, and every day is a learning experience for me.

It doesn't matter about the length of the role. I don't do films for the number of scenes. I go for the quality of my character in the film and the impact that I will have.

Many times an actor is stuck for the lack of choices. The same happened with me when I started my career. That was the time when mainly romantic films were being made, and that is what I was offered all the time.

We say women have made great strides: in biology, in many areas of chemistry, in many places, women are now the majority of medical students. But when I began my career, that wasn't the case. There were very strong stereotypes in biology and medicine.

Let's be clear - for people like me, who are obsessed with story and for whom words are their medium, writing is the best job possible. I work hard, but I earn more than the national average wage while I play with my imagination, and for me, that's a dream.

I was a very ambitious, young actor, grateful and getting out there, working hard. I was single-minded in pursuit of my career. I am also the oldest of seven and had this extreme responsibility for everyone around me. I was a caregiver and not taking care of myself as much as I should have.