I studied in J.P. Petit High School. My school was very far from my house and everybody wondered how I would commute the distance from Santa Cruz to my school. But my mother was very strict and wanted the best education for me. I used to travel by bus and school started at seven in the morning. Once I fell asleep in the bus while travelling back from school, waking up only when my bus-stop had been left miles behind. Since I was very young then, I was frantic. But I took the same bus back home. Meanwhile, my mother was very anxious, worrying where her daughter was. Finally, when I reached home, I told her about the experience I had had.

was always keen on dancing when I was in school. Initially, I used to perform while listening to old records. Later, when my mother thought I should get some classical training, I started learning Kathak from the late Mohanlal Pandey. Once I was asked to perform in a show for the school. My mother bought me a Benarasi sari for the occasion, but when I wore it and went on stage to perform, the general reaction was, "My God, this girl is so fat; she does dance well, but why doesn't she reduce?" Nobody understood that it was the sari that made me look fat. That was a really funny experience.

wasn't a very naughty child, but I remember once when I was travelling with friends in a local train, a few of us sat on a footboard of the train. At a station, a ticket examiner spotted us. He was so angry that he shouted at us for sitting there. We got such a fright that we scampered from that place.

wasn't a very bright student, but my ambition was to become a doctor. But soon I changed my mind. That was because once, when I was travelling by train, I happened to cross the site of an accident.

Here was blood all around and it made me feel very giddy. So I decided against studying medicine and thought of becoming an IAS officer. But destiny had other plans for me and I joined the film industry. And things moved in a different direction from there.