I would say the film world has stopped operating as one. We have divided it into Hindi movies, Bengali movies, Tamil movies and so on. Earlier, there was only one channel and we all knew what was going on. Today, it is hard to keep track of programmes due to the advent of regional channels.
I learnt to sing in Bengali, my mother tongue, then went on to sing in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati and every possible Indian language.
I find the songs and dances in Hindi films fascinating, and I know I will do justice to them, as I am a trained dancer.
Among the various vernaculars that are spoken in different parts of India, there is one that stands out strongly from the rest, as that which is most widely known. It is Hindi. A man who knows Hindi can travel over India and find everywhere Hindi-speaking people.
Filming in India was one big adventure. For 'The Cheetah Girls', we were in Mumbai for two weeks, then Rajasthan for six weeks. Every day after shooting, I would hop into a rickshaw and start exploring the city. I even learned a bit of Hindi. It's such an amazing place to visit.
We're making a commercial Hindi film catering to all types of audiences.
Luckily, there is a wind of change happening in Hindi cinema. Good work is coming to people who are not conventionally good looking like Ranbir Kapoor or Akshay Kumar.
Fat noses have no place in the Hindi film industry. But it is not so in the West - otherwise, Anthony Quinn would have never been an actor.
Kolkata is the relatively unexplored part of India as far as Hindi films are concerned.
In India I've been to all the award functions, but that was in Hindi; now it's in English so it's a much bigger scale.