By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Donning the garb of a girl was a big challenge for actor Riteish Deshmukh in his recently released film "Apna Sapna Money Money".

Rishi Kapoor did it in "Raffoo Chakkar" many years ago. Kamal Haasan did a spectacular job of it in "Chachi 420" more recently.

"I can't even begin to compare myself with those two. They were absolutely brilliant. But yes, I'm in drag for most of 'Apna Sapna Money Money'. And it felt weird," Riteish told IANS.

"To look convincing as a woman was the biggest challenge for me. I didn't want the character to end up looking like a caricature. The trick is to not go too far with the farce."

Jack Lemmon in "Some Like It Hot", Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie" and Robin Williams in "Mrs. Doubtfire" got the gender-bender dead right.

"I didn't want to play a manly woman. I wanted my character Sania to be authentic. It's very difficult for a guy to behave like a girl. Luckily for me there were so many girls on the sets, so I just imitated them.

"After every shot I'd get back to behaving like my normal self. But after an hour, I decided I'd remain in character constantly. Then I behaved like a woman throughout the day. Director Sangeeth Sivan and my co-star Anupam Kher were in fits," said Riteish.

Initially, Riteish was very self-conscious.

"It's very difficult being a woman. Apart from the time it takes to dress up, you are constantly scrutinised. I felt very conscious when I got into women's clothes for the first times.

"The walk from my van to the set was the longest I've taken. Everyone had this smirking smile. They couldn't tell me I was looking hideous. I thought I looked pretty okay."

Riteish says it was exciting that a director actually thought of him in this role.

"One hardly gets to do something that's funny and different. 'Apna Sapna Money Money' is a funny film. I've tried my best to be convincing as a woman. It's amazing how flattered a woman must get by male attention. You should see how Anupam Kher hits on my character in the film."

Riteish isn't tired of doing comedy.

"I've done another comedy "Kyaa Kool Hain Hum" with the same director. My family was embarrassed watching it. They'd be okay watching 'Apna Sapna...' I'm sure of that."

Notable actors in drag:
Kishore Kumar in "Half Ticket"
Amitabh Bachchan in "Laawaris"
Biswajeet in "Kismat"
Rishi Kapoor and Paintal in "Raffoo Chakkar"
Anupam Kher in "Zamana Deewana"
Kamal Haasan in "Chachi 420"
Sharman Joshi in "Excuse Me!" and "Golmaal"
Govinda in "Aunty No. 1"
Aamir Khan in "Baazi"
Salman Khan in "Jaan-e-Mann"