Tell us about Bride And Prejudice and what it was like working with Gurinder Chaddha.

Gurinder is a wonderful director, a fabulous person, a great friend. She's very, very focused as a director, extremely encouraging and lots of fun as a person. After Bend It Like Beckham, she could easily have jumped on the bandwagon and made any Hollywood movie. But she chose to do this. She thoroughly enjoys Bollywood and Bride And Prejudice is her homage to it.

From the audience in general, there's been a positive response, which is a good thing. With the media it goes both ways. You never can tell with them.

Will Bride And Prejudice be your stepping stone to Hollywood?

When I worked with Mani Ratnam in Iruvar, it wasn't my stepping-stone into the Tamil film industry. I was simply happy to work with Mani and belong to that kind of cinema where the story is told in its entirety instead of focusing on I, me, myself. Chokher Bali wasn't my stepping-stone into Bengali cinema. It was made by a director whose work I liked, it was a film I absolutely believed in. I thought Rituparno Ghosh,Tagore and Binodini were a perfect combination for my first Bengali film. Why should Bride And Prejudice be viewed as any different? It's another film I believed in. That's it.

But you are looking seriously at Hollywood. What kind of roles are you being offered?

They believe my looks could easily be Hispanic, French or Italian. But I always stress that I be cast as an Indian because that's who I am. If I have global looks, I can be the Indian identity in the script. The Hispanics havemade their mark in Hollywood and so have the Latinos, East Asians, African-Americans and South Africans. I want to strengthen the Indian identity on the international platform.

When you're such a big star here, what makes you want to struggle like a newcomer out there? It can't be easy.

You bet. Yes, there's no apparent need for me to do so. By the grace of God, success came very early to me. Like others, I could be safe and content in the cocoon of success and the luxury of recognition here.

Yeah, exactly, because that is the easy way out! Believe me, it's really tough to step out there. You have to shed all traces of ego, narcissism and megalomania and just be an artiste in the pure sense.

We've heard of Chaos; any more Hollywood movies in the pipeline?

Look, it's a bit tricky for me. While I believe I'm a newcomer in that industry, I am backed by the strength of Indians all over the world. Whatever choice I make will have to validate the pride my people have in me. So I can't choose the kind of roles that Hollywood artistes might when they enter the industry.

Chaos has been pushed to next year. We have to see how and when they can coordinate everyone's time.

Is it true you've talked with Michael Douglas for a film to be produced by Sahara?

Yes, I was given the script and I liked the character. When I was in the US, I had a meeting with Michael Douglas over lunch. It was a good meeting. We left it at that. See, I have never made any announcements at any point in time. Because I believe it's the director's and the producer's prerogative to do so. I would prefer it if the announcement came from them.

Okay, coming to apna movies, you must have been disappointed with the fate of Kyun! Ho Gaya Na...

No, not really. I did it because it was a light and frothy role, a welcome change after the intensity of Paro (in Devdas) and Binodini (in Chokher Bali). I knew I was working with a new director. When you're working on a movie, you know its relative strengths and weaknesses. But I don't believe in shrugging off the team just because you can sometimes foresee or not foresee the success ratio of a film.

You weren't irked by the bad reviews either?

I can identify the difference between constructive criticism and negative biases. We all know why some critics write what they do. I'm not saying it doesn't hurt today. I haven't managed to develop a rhino hide. But when you know the journalist behind the words and when you know where the criticism stems from, it becomes easier to deal with it.

Industry talk is that you don't have too many films on hand because you've outpriced yourself.

Firstly, I've always worked selectively. And now, I'm consciously choosing one film at a time. Some wonderful filmmakers have come to me with exciting roles-Shyam Benegal, Ketan Mehta (yes, he too), Rajkumar Santoshi, Rituparno Ghosh, Gurinder Chaddha. There are so many scripts at home.

Kalpana Lajmi has spoken to me, so have Suneil Darshan, Anil Sharma, Indra Kumar,David Dhawan and Prakash Jha. God, this feels strange but I'm listing these names for the first time to put all questions and doubts to rest. The trade I'm sure knows about it, but strangely some people choose to portray a different picture.

Maybe because some don't like the strength of a woman. Not so long ago a superstar turned his back on me and traditionally it should have wiped me out. But by the grace of God and the support of certain directors and my audience, I managed to grow as an actor. I guess that's something my detractors don't like. So they are trying to find every which way to wipe me out, end my time here.

Your relationship with Vivek Oberoi has been the subject of much speculation. Why don't you talk about it?

I'm here by virtue of my work. So I always speak of my professional life. I think we'll leave my personal life for the autobiography. People have made me out to be someone who wants to hide her personal life but I have never worked at concealing anything.

Would you say you are happy on the personal as well as the professional front today?

Yes. And also it's as much about the way you feel as about the way you decide to feel. I have decided to be positive. There are times when the negativity around you can be draining. It can make you spiral inwards. That's when you have to decide to be positive. And you discover strength within you that you never knew existed. When you alter your approach, you find peace and happiness.

That altered approach helped me on the professional front too. I have done the kind of cinema I enjoy doing. When I joined the industry, Mani (Ratnam) and Santosh (Sivan) used to encourage me, telling me I could do all kinds of cinema. When I did Taal, Subhash Ghai once told me, you can do what Shabana and Smita can do and you can do what Rekha, Madhuri and Hemaji have done. When he said that I just smiled and thought nothing of it. But today I'm actually trying to do exactly that.

So, if at this point, it seems like there's a set of directors not working with me it has opened up opportunities in another kind of cinema for which maybe I wouldn't otherwise have had the time. So it all works out for the best. I am happy to belong to cinema in its broadest spectrum-Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, English, parallel, art, commercial-just belong to cinema in its entirety.

Source : Filmfare-India

by A. CHOUDHARY</B>