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SUSHMITA SEN: I know I
will win |
 With
films like
Filhaal, Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai, Kyonki Mein Jhooth Nahin Bolta,
Barf and All The Best, the former Miss Universe has enough reasons
to celebrate. “I’m getting to play characters with so
many different shades,” she beams, as we pin her down to an
interview on the eve of Holi.
Let’s
begin with the festival of colours? Does Holi trigger off
any happy memories?
Not really. This is one festival I’ve never really liked.
Getting splashed and streaked with colours is not my idea of fun.
Even as a child I had a mental block about Holi. I just didn’t
like the idea of people coming all over me. I have never played
Holi in all these years. In fact, I’ve never even attended
any of the Holi bashes organised by the film folk in the last four
years. I don’t know what it is about Holi that attracts people.
It’s never meant anything to me.
Holi apart have you enjoyed your four years in wonderland?
It’s been a wonderful process of self-discovery! It seems unbelievable
that when I stepped into the industry four years ago, I knew zilch
about acting. But today I have managed to make a place for myself
here. I didn’t come here to be famous. The Miss Universe title
had made me a household name the world over. Acting brought me appreciation
of a different kind. When fans walk up to me and tell me they liked
a particular character I played in a film, it gives me a high. I
guess, I’ve managed to be convincing and credible because my
sincerity as a person comes across even on screen. To be a good
actress, I think, it’s important to be honest to the character
you’re portraying. I’ve always been very dedicated in
whatever I take up and that’s also helped. So has my memory.
It helped me pass my exams once and now it stops me from making
the same mistake twice.
Any weaknesses?
(Laughs) Oh plenty! There’s so much to learn. I still have
no idea how to play certain characters. So far I’ve managed
to make my characters convincing by modelling them on people I’ve
observed from close quarters. But as you grow, see and experience
more of life, you gain fresh insights that you incorporate into
your art. I’m not a trained actress so I just can’t whip
up a particular emotion. I’ve learnt how to smile, how to cry
and how to speak in a particular way by just observing people’s
reactions.
Have you changed much as a person in these four years?
Definitely! I have understood the responsibility of being a celebrity
in a broader sense. When I was crowned Miss Universe I said, did
and wore what Sushmita Sen would. But when people associate me with
the Roopali of Biwi No. 1 or the Pooja of Aaghaaz , they are not
relating to Sushmita Sen. So when they meet me in person they are
hurt and disappointed if I’m not the way they visualized me.
They expect me to be perfect all the time. I try but as a person
I have always maintained that I’m not perfect.
Which character was closest to the real Sushmita? Roopali?
(Laughs) No, not her! What I liked about her was that she played
the other woman with dignity. I don’t think the other woman
has to be necessarily bad only because she takes a married man away
from his family. Her feelings for her man are the same as the wife’s.
It’s just that the wife has the support of the family and friends
while the other woman has to fight her own battles. She’s alone
with no one to take up for her. I respected Roopali but Shai of
Filhaal is the one I see a lot of myself in. It exposes that side
of me even those close to me haven’t seen. She’s ambitious.
There’s so much to do and achieve. That’s me! I also relate
to Lara Oberoi of Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai.
You’ve played the other woman to perfection. But what if you
were the wronged wife. How would you deal with such situation in
real life?
If a man falls out of love with you there is definitely a problem.
I think fidelity is important but I don’t swear by it. I can
share my man with another woman but not his heart. I’m not
saying that it’s okay for me if he goes out and has a great
time with another woman. But it’s something that down the line
I can analyse, understand and forgive. However, if I think that
I don’t have sole rights over his heart I’ll ask him to
leave. I wouldn’t want to hold on to a man whose heart doesn’t
belong to me. In David Dhawan’s Kyunki Mein Jhoot Nahin Bolta
I am playing the wife while Rambha is the other woman. Haven’t
I graduated in life? (Laughs) However, my character is nothing like
Karisma’s in Biwi No 1. I don’t want to teach my husband
a lesson. She’s a simple woman and in no way a feminist. I’m
amazed when I see myself in the film. “Is that really me?”
I wonder. I just can’t relate to such a character but I guess,
therein lies the beauty of cinema. I can play so many characters
but I don’t have to be them!
So what kind of wife will Sushmita Sen make?
A great one! (Laughs)
This is the first time you have been paired with Govinda. What’s
it like working with him?
Wonderful! Govinda is a complete actor and a fabulous dancer. His
ability to come up with such a wide range of expressions amazes
me. There is no effort in his acting at all. He’s a natural.
Punctuality is definitely a problem but his performance more than
makes up for his late comings. While shooting I never once felt
I was working with Govinda. I always saw him as the character he
was playing.
Do you get worked up when you have to wait for your co-star to arrive
on the sets?
Of course I do! Initially, since I was not used to it, I would get
very upset and irritated. Now I carry my books with me or call my
family and friends over. I don’t like the idea of wasting my
time at work. But now I’ve realised that you can use such time
to just wait for other people to turn up or make the most of it.
The latter is a better alternative.(Laughs)
Except for Biwi No 1 and Sirf Tum none of your films have done well.
Does that haunt you?
I believe in progressing slowly and steadily. I don’t want
my career graph to be like a wave that shoots up and immediately
comes down. I want it to be pretty much like a straight line. It
has to rise, but if at all it has to fall, it should come back to
the straight line. I’m a lambi race ka ghoda. I know I will
win.
If you want to win so badly what made you accept a film like Aaghaaz?
Aaghaaz did not show something that does not happen in real life.
In fact, in reality the bloodshed is much worse. I did the film
because for the first time I got to play a police officer. I wanted
to see if I could portray such a character convincingly. And from
what I saw, I was not disappointed with my role in the film even
though I was the one who had to hang around the sets and wait to
give my shots. I made an impact, so what if I had only five scenes.
My character was not wasted!
You honestly found nothing drastically wrong with the film?
Nothing for me to turn it down. If I don’t like the story I
don’t do it irrespective of the banner, director or star. And
if I like it I do it even if the director is a nobody and it’s
the hero’s film. I wanted to do Aaghaaz so I did it. Simple!
After
Dilbar, dilbar in Sirf Tum and Mehboob mere in Fiza you’re
now being branded a song specialist.
I don’t care because brands keep changing every Friday. Who
brands us, I wonder? We all know that music is an important part
of Hindi films. In fact, it pretty much decides the fate of the
film. So if I’m known for a particular song it’s a definite
start. Four years ago I was appreciated as an actress in Dastak
and now I’m being acknowledged as a dancer. I love it! I was
always a graceful dancer but now I have opened up a lot. I was completely
uninhibited in Mehboob mere. I just let myself go and gave the people
watching something that they had always dreamt of doing but couldn’t
because they were too conscious of who was watching. There was a
certain madness in my dance. And mind you, I have not taken any
kind of professional training, not even as a child!
Meghna Gulzar’s Filhaal reportedly has you playing a pregnant
woman.
Considering you have never given birth to a child, how credible
will you be in such a role?
Luckily for me, my director is a woman and someone who refuses to
take any kind of cinematic liberties. We worked on how a pregnant
woman walks, talks, sits and feels. There were a lot of pregnant
women around to learn from. We observed them and picked up bits
and pieces. We even learnt things we would never show in the film
just to get an insight into the character. That’s very rare!
Nobody goes into such intricate details but Meghna did! She dealt
with Shia, my character, with extreme sensitivity. I hope everybody
loves her as much as I do.
You’re a mother in real life though you have never borne a
child, right?
Yeah, I’ve adopted a baby girl so I know what it’s like
to be a mother. If the film was about a mother and not an expectant
mother, it would have been a cakewalk for me (Smiles). I have a
son in Kyonki Mein Jhooth Nahin Bolta and when I see him it scares
me to think of what Renee will do when she reaches that age. He’s
so naughty!
You sound like you really enjoyed your shooting stint with Meghna
Gulzar?
Yeah, it was wonderful! This was for the first time I was working
with a woman director and I was amazed by her passion. That’s
important when I agree to do a film. The script was ready with the
dialogue from day one. I like things to be organised on the sets!
Is Goldie Behl’s Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai really a dream film?
It’s a khwab (Smiles). Lara Oberoi a very modern woman in a
man’s world. She’s a fantastic character. You have to
see the film to understand what I’m saying. Goldie is a fantastic
director. He’s young so he does not like to play by the rules.
He makes his own rules. I like such people because I can see great
potential in them. I only hope Goldie does not have to bow down
to the way the industry works. Directors like Goldie and Meghna
are closer to my age and young and vibrant. I can sit and chat with
them not only about work but other issues. I respect my other directors
too but it is difficult to get through to them sometimes because
they have set ideas.
Your co-star in the film, Abhishek Bachchan is known to be quite
a prankster. Have you ever been a victim of his practical jokes?
No, luckily I have been spared. I may not be 6 feet 2 inches but
I’m 5 feet eight inches and that helps. He’s a very nice
boy! You’d think he would be conceited but he’s not! His
father may be a legend but on the sets he’s like a boy who’s
just learning the art of acting. And he’s doing a splendid
job of it! Also since he has known Goldie since childhood, he is
comfortable working with him
You are also working with the senior Bachchan again in Vipul Shah’s
All The Best.
What’s
he like?
I haven’t begun shooting for the film yet. (Jokingly) But
I have worked with the junior Bachchan and now I’m going to
work with the senior Bachchan a second time. Now who do I have left?
Is the film inspired by the famous play, All The Best?
No, it has got nothing to do with the play! But if I tell you what
the film is all about Vipul will kill me!
Have you begun working on Vishal Bharadwaj’s Barf?
No, we shall be dashing off to Ladakh for a shoot sometime next
month.
Is it true that you were approached for Anupam Kher’s Om Jai
Jagdish?
nI was but he wanted to begin shooting immediately and I could not
do so because I had already allotted dates to Barf.
How true are the rumours that you recently got engaged to businessman
Sanjay Narang and he has reportedly bought you a plush apartment
in the United States?
Wonderful! Could you please give me the address. If there is a place
waiting for me in the US, what am I doing in Mumbai? (Laughs)
So are you going steady with Sanjay or aren’t you?
Yes, I’m in love with Sanjay (Smiles)!
Parag>>
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