My career says that my doors will always be open for all. When an Anupam Kher walked in through my door at 28 and got 'Saaransh,' it launched his unimaginably productive career.

Everyone claims to have found the 'Holy Grail' - the perfect formula that can guarantee a hit in Bollywood. But those who seriously believe in it are deluded.

I can understand the individual who is driven by biases. I can sit with him across the table and can talk to him, deal with him. But bias in the man whom we put in the seat of power and who decides to play on it... That man will destroy the very fabric of the nation.

My life screams out and says one thing: 'indulgence.' I am a person who would never deny myself anything.

It would be a tragedy for democracy if dissent goes away.

The real world is harsh.

You can't repeat the success of any movie.

Yes, whatever is born, dies, but I thank life for gifting us a Nelson Mandela. He will sparkle in our consciousness for times to come.

India will not function if you do not believe in unity in diversity.

I would rather be stupid than pretend to be intelligent.

I used to sleep with a little Ganesha under my pillow as a child; he was my favourite deity.

Rahul Roy is delusional. He wants 'Aashiqui' to end with him. When it didn't end with me, how can it end with him?

The world is not a static place. People change, evolve.

Broadway's never my end goal because of the plays I write. These are tough plays. Of course there's a lot of humor, but my goal is just to reach as wide an audience as possible, however that happens.

If you're looking at the people who head the institutions, there are very few African Americans or people of colour. I'm talking about the major theatres that position themselves as serving all audiences. What you find is, by and large, people who are shaping what we see, and the people who are the tastemakers are white.

The person whose work introduced me to the craft was Lorraine Hansberry. The person who taught me to love the craft was Tennessee Williams. The person who really taught me the power of the craft was August Wilson, and the person who taught me the political heft of the craft was Arthur Miller.

I wouldn't say I see my work as having a political ideology. Lynn Nottage certainly has a political ideology. I think that the work is an extension of who I am, but I don't think that when I write the play I'm looking to push the audience one way or another.

It's very easy, when we're reading those articles on the 20th page of 'The New York Times,' to distance ourselves and say, 'It's someone else.'

I'm always hyperaware of the way in which working people are portrayed on the stage.

There is an enduring feeling that women can write domestic dramas but don't have the muscularity or the vision to write state-of-the-nation narratives.

Saying, 'I'm going to create jobs' is great, but before you create jobs, something has to be offered to alleviate some of the suffering now.

I know what I'm trying to say, so I'm always open to learning how to say it.

I love my people's history. I feel a huge responsibility to tell the stories of my past and my ancestors' past.

Who wants to see the same play again? I certainly don't want to write the same play again and again.