In a short midnight-blue dress and shorter hairstyle, actor Bipasha Basu lounges in her suite at The Maurya. For the longest time possible, she was known as a one-designer woman, with friend Rocky S chipping in for the greater part of her wardrobe, but this time she is in town to endorse designs by her latest favourite, Gauri and Nainika Karan, at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. Has there been a change of allegiance, we ask the actor, who has been flaunting the Karan sisters’ label at several dos. “I have always been fortunate to have friends who are great designers. From Anaita (Shroff Adajania) to Rocky to Narendra (Kumar), I have never been short of help. I love the clear, fuss-free style of Gauri-Nainika. But, no, there are no favourites. I love them all,” comes the diplomatic reply.

It’s been a busy year for Basu. Abbas Mastan’s Race is due for release in a fortnight. Shooting is also on for her other films, Pankh and Rituparno Ghosh’s Shob Choritro Kalponik. Both have her playing unusual, off-the-cuff roles. “I follow my gut feelings. I take up roles that make me happy. For instance, in Pankh, I play the alter ego of a boy who is confused about his gender identity, while in Ritu’s film I am an NRI girl married to a poet and struggling to come to terms with the changed reality. They are quirky, interesting characters,” she says. Offbeat films apart, Basu is also in the thick of mainstream ventures. There’s Siddharth Anand’s romantic comedy with Ranbir Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and Deepika Padukone. Basu has also just signed up for debut director Jahangir Sfoorti’s film Freeze, opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh. “I was very impressed with Jahangir’s script. He is like Sriram Raghavan. Concise, intelligent and incisive,” she says.

So what is next on her agenda? “The best thing I like about being an actor is the fact that we are always busy. So, when there’s no work, there are sisters, parents, dogs, boyfriend and boyfriend’s family to take care of. There’s something going on all the time,” she smiles.

The talk veers to her personal life, and Basu gets candid about her relationship with John Abraham, shrugging off any hint of a rumour. “We are both very committed individuals. We have been in this together for a really long time, and know what we are doing. I am a firm believer in the institution of marriage and I also know it will happen at some point of time, but right now, I don’t feel I am ready for it. It’s certainly not on the cards anytime soon,” she says.