I think that when something happens when you're growing up, like a death or divorce, it does open the world slightly because things aren't as straightforward.

People keep saying how amazing it is having a female lead, and I just sort of feel, 'Well, of course!'

My agent called me up and said, 'There is a tremendous female lead in the new 'Star Wars' film, and I think you're really going to like it.' The opportunity to play someone determined, who's trying to find her skills as a leader; to be in a fantasy movie; to be able to do a leading female role in a film of that scale - that's very, very rare.

My mother was in the kind of late-'60s, early-'70s origins of female emancipation. And she was very much like, 'You're not going to be defined by how you look. It's going to be about who you are and what you do.'

I'm a comedian who happens to be Muslim; my comedy stems on all forms of my identity.

I joke around all the time, 'I'm Asian; I'm really good at math.'

I was taught by a lot of great comedy writers to go for the reality in a role, and the comedy will come through.

A lot of people do comedy about India, but they're not from India. It's a Kwik-E-Mart perspective. I want to provide a genuine view and maybe one on how we see the West.