BIPASHA BASU
You are playing a tarot card reader in Rakht. Was it interesting to portray such a character?
It was. Rakht is about a small community of people living in one place. I play Drishti, a tarot card reader who gets visions which she can’t control. She is a widow with a child and so, though it is not her profession, tarot card reading becomes her mode of earning.
Did you have to work on the role since this is the first time you are doing such an intense character?
I did have to work on the look of my character in this suspense thriller. Tarot card reading is a medium to know the future but since many are not aware of this today, we have not delved into details about it.
Raaz was a suspense-thriller which was well appreciated. How would you differentiate Rakht from other thrillers?
Besides other things, it is the dialogues in Rakht that are very eerie and will bring goose pimples. There is a thrill and suspense in every dialogue. Every scene will arouse curiosity in the viewer and the special effects are mind-blowing, something that has not been experienced earlier.
You seem to be enjoying doing such type of roles. In this case, what was it that made you accept the role?
I am very selfish as an actor. I took up Rakht because nobody in their right mind would have refused such a challenging role and I am fortunate that I bagged it. Tarot card readers are generally calm people because they are approached by strangers who discuss their lives with them wanting to know their future. But first they have to be taken into confidence by the Tarot card reader . Since I was playing the character, I had to look very confident and trustworthy for people to confide in me. And I think, I was successful to a great extent.
To enhance the authenticity of your character, did you meet any Tarot card reader before shooting?
I met Sunita Menon only after the completion of Rakht. When I told her I had copied her look for the film, she laughed. Now that the film is complete, she has agreed to read my cards. Earlier we had seen each other at parties but we never had any conversation. And now we are friends.
Do you believe in fortune telling?
I believe only in the positive things.
As an actor, how did you rate your role in the film?
It was a challenging role of me. Drishti is a young, modern mother with a positive approach to life. She knows she has to live for herself and her child but there are circumstances in their lives which are beyond their control. For me, it was a different yet difficult role to portray.
Rakht is your first film with Mahesh Manjrekar. Was he was a tough task master?
Mahesh is one of the best directors Bollywood has today. He is very easy to work with. Being a good actor himself, he is sensitive towards the artiste working with him. He understands our flaws and guides us accordingly. If we are not comfortable with a particular scene, Mahesh reworks on it. He even gives us a freehand with the dialogues. All this boosts the confidence of the actor. He is never rigid about anything on the sets and handles all the stars very well.
And producer Vijay Mallya?
Well, he is fun to work with and hassle-free. Mallya is known for taking risks in life and that is obvious here too. Though this is his first attempt at film production, he didn’t think twice before investing in a multi-starrer.
Multi-starrers have become a trend of late. How comfortable are you doing a film with many other artistes in the lead?
Working in a multi-starrer is not new to me. I began my career with Ajnabee which starred Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor. I had a fabulous time then and it is not different now. Besides Rakht, I have No Entry that has a major starcast. Since I had worked with Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Dino Morea earlier, I was very comortable with them. I found a very good friend in Amu (Amrita Arora). We had good fun on and off screen. I interacted with Neha Dhupia only for two days on the sets and she was quite civil. Anyway, it was a good experience doing Rakht and since it is the character that is of importance, there is no hero or heroine in particular in the film.
Even while doing No Entry, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Fardeen Khan, Lara Dutta, Celina Jaitley, Esha Deol and I enjoyed very much. We girls freaked out a lot. Initially I was very apprehensive about working with so many actors. But it was a great experience. If you have a good rapport with your co-stars, the product is always good.
Are you open to working with new directors?
I sign films only when I feel my character is well-defined. I don’t mind working with first time directors as long as there is sensibility in my role. I work in films because I enjoy doing so. If the film runs, it does good for me. If not, life goes on.
You said you worked on the look of your character. How?
When the role came to me, I first got my hair coloured and then cut fringes. I discussed my costumes with Rocky S. Though the film was shot in a cold climate, I didn’t want to wear jackets and coats. I wanted something feminine, yet not very decorative clothes. As I had to look calm and serene, I chose long skirts and full sleeved blouses in black and beige colour. Rocky and I worked on each costume minutely and they look good on screen.
You concentrate a lot on your costumes and looks, which has given you the image of a glamorous and sexy actress.
That’s right. I love costumes that make me look glamorous. But if you notice, in each film, I have looked the character. For Raaz, which was shot in a cold country, I wore polo-neck tops, pants and jackets and was covered from head to toe. Yet I was desribed as a sex symbol. It is an honour to be fully clothed and yet be called sexy. In Gunaah, I wore a police uniform yet I looked ‘sexy’, I was told. So no matter what film I have done, people have called me sexy. Now I have given up fighting with an image that has already been created for me. My character in all the films have been different. I have made conscious efforts to dress differently in each one of them but I shall not make any attempt to change what people think of me.
Do you feel intimidated by the likes of Malika Sherawat in the industry?
Not at all. What is there to feel threatened about? I think, there is enough work for everyone in the industry.
Does that mean you are happy with whatever has come your way so far?
Frankly speaking, my career has not been going great guns this year. But that doesn’t stop me from giving my best shot. I had great expectations from Aetbaar and was disappointed when it didn’t click. Rudraksh, Chor Machaye Shor, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai and Jaane Hoga Kya did not do too well at the box-office.
Are you hopeful about the year ahead?
That I am. I have Chehra, Mumkin and No Entry due for release this year. I had never thought of becoming on actress but I am happy that I am here today. Certain things in life are not pre-planned. One has to accept what comes their way graciously.
Finally, are there any plans of settling down in marriage?
Right now when things are looking up on my career front, I have not given marriage a thought. It can wait. Everyone knows John Abraham and I are seeing each other but we are giving each other at least three years in this industry before we plan about our life together. Tomorrow cannot be predicted. We can only hope for the best.
AMRITA ARORA
Amrita Arora plays Natasha, a rebel in Rakht. According to the actress, “The role is the most crucial one. It pulls the film together. I have high expectations from Rakht as I have a strong role, something I have never portrayed before. I am sure to be appreciated for my work as it will see the actress in me in a different light,” beams the youngster adding that though the film is a multistarrer, each character is well-etched. There is scope for performances for every one.
Amrita, who was lately in the news for her bold portrayal in Karan Razdan’s Girlfriend, says the film has opened many doors for her as she has been getting several offers ever since. Her forthcoming films are Team - The Force with Sohail Khan and Mahesh Manjrekar’s Deh.
Five years from now, the actress says she wants to see herself working with the best of directors, doing good films. “Not that I am complaining now. Today I am enjoying my work and life to the hilt,” smiles the actress who has to her credit films like Awara Pagal Deewana, Hungama, Kitne Door Kitne Paas, Ek Aur Ek Gyarah and Shart. Amrita is thrilled that she is no longer known as Malaika Arora-Khan’s little sister.
DINO MOREA
What is your role in Rakht like?
Sunny, the character I play in Rakht, is very different. Firstly, because the character is not Dino, the chocolate-boy any more. Here I play a very voilent, aggressive and an obsessive character. I think it is not important how much screen-time you get but the impact your character makes to the viewer. In Rakht, I will be seen in a different light, with a slightly grey shade. It is not negative though.
Since this is the first time you are doing a grey character, did you have to work towards it?
Yeah! I had to be focussed and be the person I was playing. I was a different person altogether while enacting this role.
Why did you agree to do this role especially since, like you said, you already have the image of a loverboy?
I decided to do this role as it is an interesting character. In Rakht, I would say, there is no main hero or heroine and everyone is portraying a character. While Suniel Shetty is playing a mad man, Sanjay Dutt is a professor. Bipasha is a fortune teller, Amrita Arora, a stage actor and Neha Dhupia plays my wife. I am seen in a different light, as a violent character. All these add to the story. Also I wanted to be seen doing something other than a sweet, romantic lover. This film will bring out the versatility in my acting.
Playing a negative character so early in your career, don’t you think will affect your future films?
A negative character today is no longer the kind it used to be in the olden days. The villain no longer looks sly and ugly. Today we have good-looking heroes who ‘cannot do anything wrong’ doing negative roles. So the suspense is much more. Though it was not a conscious decision to play the bad guy, I just wanted to try out something different. Today a lot of actors are scared to experiment and prefer getting typecast. I feel that is not right. An actor has to be versatile. People must go to the theatre to watch the film only to see him as an actor. I am here to act, to prove myself. I want to experiment. And it is my job to take risks.
You have been in the industry for quite a while now. Is there anything here that has affected you as an actor?
You know people say that a lot has changed in our film industry. But I would say, it is not so. I feel while the working system is still the same, production values of movies are getting better and better. But there are only a handful of directors who are passionate about their work and thus spend more than a year reproducing and working on their script before going on the floors. And they succeed. Many a times I am approached by filmmakers who narrate a story to me and when I ask for the script, they say they will write it after I agree to do the film. Tell me, how can such a project work? We think even today’s audiences have changed. But that is not true. They still like masala movies.
You don’t seem very happy with the way things are in the industry right now. Do you plan to take-up direction and right the wrongs?
Honestly, I want to direct. It is my dream to make a film. May be once I am established well as an actor, I shall call the shots. I feel it is one’s self determination that can take a person to great heights. To make a good film, the idea should come from within oneself. We have to cater to a audience who enjoy watching masala, sweet lovey-dovey films. If you move away from the genre, I doubt whether the film will do well. A film needs all kinds of ingredients and I promise to make one just like that some day.
Do you think the success of Raaz has helped your career?
I must confess that I have sustained because of Raaz. A person like me who has no one to help and doesn’t know anyone in the industry, I would have been out long back. But thanks to Raaz and its success, I hope to be here for the next 10-20 years.
Yet, after Raaz, your progress has been rather slow.
That is because I have consciously done few films. Unfortunately these films did not do too well at the box-office, for whatever reasons. Yet I am grateful to the critics for being nice to me. Sadly, here the actor is blamed if the film is a flop even if he has done a sincere job. It is the director who should bear the brunt. The story that he narrates sounds so nice that one agrees to do the film. Normally what is narrated is very different from the final product. So it is bound to affect the film.
I am growing as an actor but I cannot sit at home and wait for a Ram Gopal Varma or a Karan Johar to come and sign me. I want to be here for some more years and thus take up whatever I feel will do good to me careerwise. Hopefully for a model-turned-actor like me, I shall have another hit film.
Do you still walk the ramp?
No I don’t. I would if the money is right. Everyday is a new day, a new beginning and I have always made the most of it. I have not exhausted myself yet and have a long way to go.
A Bangalorean, born to an Italian father and Indian mother, was the going tough for you in Bollywood?
Yes. it was tough. My Hindi has improved considerably. I moved to Mumbai in December 1996 after winning the Gladrags. I became an international model before returning to India for good.
Besides Rakht, you are also doing Mahesh Manjrekar’s Deh. It seems to be a bold film.
It certainly is a bold film. We have not had many films where an older woman falls in love with a younger guy. Deh is about a woman who gathers herself after her husband of 12 years leaves her. It is a very feminist film.
Weren’t you apprehensive doing the project? Is it your kind of cinema?
I was not certain of doing it initially. But when Mahesh, with whom I was doing Rakht asked me to do the role of a young guy who helps an older woman to come out of her problems, I thought it was a substantial role though it is not my kind of cinema. I want to do commercial films where I can dance, sing, cry, laugh and enjoy myself. But at the same time. I want to experiment as well.
Deh sounds very familiar, like Dimple’s Leela and Hema Malini’s Ek Nai Paheli?
It is in the similar genre but has been treated and will be presented differently. Tell me, what is cinema? It is for the audience to go to the theatres, enjoy the film and go back to their homes happily.
Which are your next releases?
Rakht will release first. Saurabh Shukla’s Chehra with Bipasha Basu and Irffan Khan is a love story with a doctor-patient theme. I play a mentally challenged yet obsessive character in Padam Kumar’s Kabhi Bhi Kahin Bhi. Dia Mirza and Sheetal Malhar are my co-stars. Then, there is Gumnaam with Mahima Chaudhary, Mahesh Manjrekar’s Deh in which Jaya Prada is my love interest. As you see, I am experimenting a lot with my characters and hence expectations are quite high. But everything depends on the film’s release. When I sign a film, I get very passionate about it and do it to the best of my abilities. But if the director doesn’t make a good film and if his foresight and my foresight don’t match then I think everything goes wrong. I am sure with my future releases, I have made the right choice as they are basically good stories.
Now that your career is moving steadfastly, are there any plans of settling down in life?
I do want to get married. But only when I am ready and stable, both financially and mentally. May be in a couple of years you will see me at the altar. It is a big responsibility though.
HIMANSHU MALIK
He will be best remembered for the seventeen kisses in Khwaish with Malika Sherawat after his debut in Anubhav Sinha’s Tum Bin. In Rakht, Himanshu Malik plays Abhigyan Gupta, a playboy, whose only aim in life is booze and women. But the change that comes in him because of circumstances is what his character is all about. “I decided to do Rakht as I found the role quite interesting. It has a grey shade to it. I have just two releases to my credit, but life was getting slightly boring. The role in Khwaish was not a real life character. I was looking for interesting characters. Rakht has given me the opportunity to explore my acting talent,” says the model-turned-actor.
Mahesh Manjrekar and Himanshu worked on the character of Abhigyan Gupta. “And the final result is amazing,” smiles Malik who has no hassles doing a multistarrer. “Even Tum Bin had three heroes. Everyone has enough to do in Rakht too,” he points out.
After Khwaish, Himanshu started getting similar kind of roles, the chumma-jappi types. Not interested, he decided to get very selective as he wanted to be identified with the character that he was doing and not be typecast as a sex-symbol.
His other projects are Balaji Films’ Koi Apna Sa co-starring Aftab Shivdasani, Natassha and Dipannita Sharma, Pooja Bhatt’s Rog with Irrfan Khan and the South African actress Ilene Hamman and Samit Bhatkar’s Jackpot with Meghna Naidu.