You have been seen in serious, non-glamorous roles in Dor, Manorama Six Feet Under. Do you tend to gravitate towards such films?

It’s sheer coincidence that out of the four releases I have had, three have portrayed me in this manner. Those two films are only one third of the seven films I have done since Dor, most of which are at various stages of post-production presently. I have balanced out my roles. I am doing a glamorous part in Atul Agnihotri’s Hello as well as Mukta Arts’s Hello Darling.

Your career has taken an unconventional path. Was that planned?

I will definitely choose work that sets me apart. There’s no point doing work that is going to typecast you with half-a-dozen other people. The premise for my work is I have to stand out.

Are you looking to change your image from serious to glam?

People see me on screen as a serious actress; but otherwise everyone comes and tells me ‘My God you’ve got such a great body!’ Why the surprise? I tell people they should not confuse the way I look on screen with the person I am in real life. Honestly, I’m not desperate to suddenly start doing nanga photo shoots to try and prove a point. I am what I am.

Well, you did do a sexy shoot for a glossy...

That is an old shoot yaar. I’ve always shot pictures like that. It’s not like a Vidya Balan attempt. See, for her, it was important because Parineeta defined her. But my pictures even before Dor have always been like this. It’s not as if I’m coming from a place where I was a sari-clad diva and suddenly I’m taking off all my clothes! I did the photo shoot before Dor but now people are making a contrast and it definitely looks interesting. Now they think: ‘Oh she can look like this as well as that!’

Are you looking out to do hardcore commercial roles where you run around trees?

My mantra is very simple. I want to do stuff that keeps reminding people that I’m a good actor. I don’t want to do stuff where that message gets lost. For instance, in Hello Darling, I play a hardcore commercial woman who wears high heels. She has got great legs, et al. It’s an out-and-out comedy. I haven’t played a character like that even though I might be like that in person.

So you are joining the comedy bandwagon...

I’ve always been told I have great comic timing and now’s the time to put it to test. Even in Manorama, my scenes were the only ones with the laughs. Even normally, when I talk to my friends they find it funny; they say I should do comedy.

What drew you to Hello?

I’d just finished Dor and there was a lot of appreciation coming from the strangest of people. I was surprised when I had reactions from the most hardcore commercial directors like Rajkumar Hirani. Atul Agnihotri liked me in Dor and asked me if I would like to be a part of Hello, which is based on the book One Night At A Call Centre. I told him I would like to read the book before I committed myself. When I read the book I loved it. It was such a wonderful experience working with Sohail and Atul and his wife Alvira.

You have a kissing scene in Hello with Sharman Joshi...

I have a kissing scene in every film of mine. I am the kissing queen! There was a kissing scene in Dor, Manorama, and Hello has one too. I’ve just finished Straight with Vinay Pathak and that too has a kissing scene. It was Vinay’s first kiss and he was so worried, but I’m a professional in these matters (laughs). People say they won’t kiss on screen; to me that’s like joining the army and saying I won’t fire a gun.

What roles are you looking for now?

I would love to play the part of a grey seductress. For all those people who keep telling me that I have such a great body, I want to wear a bikini and show them ‘Fine, here you are!’ And I want to do a really dark film where I’m a very bad person.

Despite the appreciation you won for Dor, why are you not in Nagesh’s next films?

Apart from Shreyas and Ayesha, Nagesh has not repeated actors. Nagesh is somebody who only casts very aptly. He will not cast you just because he likes you.

Do you think Dor helped Ayesha more than you?

That is subjective. There would be some people who would see it as her film because she was the underdog but there are an equal number who see it as my film because I was the fighter. For Ayesha it was a great film because it proved that here’s a girl who looks so good and can act as well.

Do you have an ace up your sleeve?

Yes, I’m extremely versatile. I can blend in both the art and commercial world.

Dipika Bajpai (Bollywood News Service)

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