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Mumbai, Jan 10 Kareena Kapoor says in an industry filled with lechers, it is hard to come across some one as
gentlemanly as her "Chameli" co-star Rahul Bose, whom she calls "a friend for life".
Excerpts of an IANS interview with Kareena
Your performance in "Chameli" is one of the best one has seen in recent years.
I don't think I'm that good. I tried to get into the character and I know I succeeded. I've given my soul to the film. It was a different set-up this time.
My co-star Rahul Bose and I come from different schools of acting, so there was certain awkwardness between us in the beginning that worked to our characters' advantages because we play people from different cultures and classes.
Have you encountered such passionate realism in other films?
Well Govind Nihalani's "Dev" and Mani Rathnam's "Yuva" are realistic in their own right. I'm so used to entering a world of fantasy in all my films. In "Chameli" once I stepped on to the sets everything was so real it was unreal!
Everyone wants to know how I managed to play a sex worker. All I've to say to that is a sex worker is as human as you or me. I'm an actress, you're a journalist and Chameli is a sex worker. I've played her as a professional doing her job. At the end of the day they go through the same emotions that we do. Chameli may be more crass than I. But she feels the same.
Was it difficult to get into the character with director Sudhir Mishra after the original director Anant Balani passed away?
Not at all. I want to work with Sudhir again. I think I'm one of the luckiest actresses in this country. I've worked with everyone, from the hardcore mainstream Karan Johar to the off-mainstream Sudhir Mishra.
Were you afraid of plunging into this complex part?
Not at all. My life would be zilch without risks. At the very beginning of my career I backed out of a completely 'safe' film like "Kaho Na... Pyar Hai" to do a totally unconventional "Refugee". My third film was a period film, "Asoka".
Everyone said my look and costumes were too sexy and that they might mar my image. But my look in "Asoka" made me a style icon. The same is happening with "Chameli". Even if I may say so myself, I'm one of the contemporary actresses who's constantly taking a risk, and not just by changing my hairstyle or wearing lenses. Unlike some of my contemporaries who change their look but still remain part of candyfloss films I've always dared to go into the unknown.
So why the changed look for "Chameli"?
The drastic change was required because I play a character completely removed from the mainstream and from the world that we, the so-called respectable people, live in. My actual appearance is hardly in keeping with the image of a sex worker. I played Chameli as an innocent seductress.
Do you see her becoming a style icon?
I do. Let's face it: sex workers are absolutely crazy about film actresses. They wear clothes modelled on their favourite stars. They've already started wearing my red sari from "Chameli" which Manish Malhotra created.
Do you think "Chameli" will finally eradicate your Poo image from "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham"?
I think Chameli has already done that even before release. I'm sure no one thought of me as untalented even if they accused me of making faces into the camera. Now they'll have a tough time writing me off. Poo's success became a huge problem for me. Filmmakers took Poo as a role model and started conceiving characters accordingly. My fans never held Poo against me. But colleagues in the film industry got vicious about how I could do nothing except Poo.
Well, excuse me! Mani Rathnam, Govind Nihalani, Sooraj Barjatya and Sanjay Leela Bhansali didn't sign me for making faces. I'm sick of hearing that I make faces. I don't want to name other actresses who make faces and get away with it because their films work.
How was Rahul Bose as a co-star?
In this industry teeming with lechers it's hard to come across someone who's a thorough gentleman. Rahul is so intelligent and suave. He's a friend for life. You know he's a great mimic. I think he does a Kareena Kapoor better than me (laughs). He calls me Chams, after Chameli.
Another co-star I like immensely is Fardeen Khan. We may not speak every day. But he knows I'm always there for him. I'm sentimentally attached to Tusshar Kapoor with whom I gave my first hit. And now Rahul... otherwise I've never gone out of my way to make friends with my co-stars.
Has "Chameli" improved you as an actress?
It has helped me evolve. I'm glad I did it three years into my career. If I took up such a challenge at the start there'd have been no thrill or adventure. I know something others don't.
If I missed out on any role yesterday, it was only because there was something better coming along tomorrow. God doesn't want to give me everything all at once. I'm ready to wait and struggle to achieve what I want. I already had all the big banners. Now I don't need them.
Any burning ambitions?
I wish my grandfather Raj Kapoor were alive. But, then, I'm working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali who's the truest successor to the RK legacy. I'm looking for that kind of a maker constantly. I think audiences expect that from me. Last year I had two major releases. They didn't click. In 2004, I've a mixed bag of releases.
"Chameli" is as different from Dharmesh Darshan's "Bewafaa" as Abbas-Mustan's "Aitraaz" is from Ken Ghosh's "Fidaa".
How many films are you doing with Shahid Kapur?
Just two for now. "Fidaa" and Satish Kaushik's "Milenge Milenge".
People are linking the two of you.
Thankfully it hasn't harmed our working relationship. We've just started working together. I think he's one of the most talented actors I've worked with. He has inherited the best of both his parents (Pankaj Kapoor and Neelima Azim). Besides he's blessed with good looks and natural charm.
Maybe I'll now learn to stop making faces. But what the heck! I'm still the highest paid actress in the country. Others don't make faces and still don't get paid as much as I do!
- Subhash K. Jha, IANS
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