Posted:
16 years ago
A NEW CANVAS
She's on a rollercoster - from being Grand Marshall at a NRI parade in Fremont to shooting in Hyderabad, Dubai and Mumbai. And for good measure, Ms Fizz-ical Amrita Rao is the new M.F.Husain muse too.
How was the Grand Marshall experience?
Awesome! The Federation of Indo-American Association of Northern California invited me, and I just had to support the NRIs' sense of patriotism and their preservation of the Indian culture despite being based on the other side of the globe. It was quite a big deal because the honour had gone before me to Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan and Urmila. I wore a ghaghra-choli and led a parade in a horse-carriage, waving to a 60,000-strong crowd of Indians of all hues.
You have been on a whirlwind of shootings in Dubai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, and the overwork caught up with your health.
(Laughs) Yes, but I am enjoying the hectic pace after a lull. Both the Dubai and Hyderabad shoots were for my Telugu debut film, Atithi, starring Mahesh Babu.
Hindi film heroines do Southern films by the dozens. What made you take up Athithi?
I was approached by Padmalaya, as this is Mahesh Babu's home production. A superstar there, Mahesh does only one film annually. The director, Surendra Reddy, gave a narration and the way they had envisioned my character, planned my presentation and given me a terrific introduction scene appealed to me. The South Indians like their heroines, food and films spicy! It is also uncommon for a heroine in Telugu cinema to have an equal role with a superstar hero.
How different was that experience from an Ishq Vishq, Main Hoon Na, Masti or Vivah?
I enjoyed the challenge of mastering my dialogues and getting the diction and expressions right. I also had to get the meanings of my co-stars' lines and my own so that I could react perfectly.
You have gone in for a makeover. Is it for a specific film?
I think that I have to show a side different from my Ms Goody-Gumdrops image. I am paying attention to looks and fitness. I want to be one of the country's best actresses, so a trendy, hot and glamorous look within the parameters of my comfort levels adds to the image of complete womanhood.
What made M.F.Husain find his new muse after Madhuri Dixit in you?
(Laughs) He actually loved my look as Poonam in Vivah. He loved the way Sooraj (Barjatya)ji presented me as the epitome of Indian simplicity and purity. Soorajji's office is full of Hussainsaab's paintings and I would observe them, not realizing that I would become his muse! He wants to do a film with me, and when I was shooting in Dubai for Atithi, he insisted on making his Bentley available with a chaffeur for my travel!
And which are your Hindi films after the Heyy Babyy cameo?
I am doing Anil Kapoor's production Shortcut directed by writer Neeraj Vora with Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi, My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves directed by E.Niwas and presented by Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment, and Shyam Benegal's satirical comedy with Shreyas Talpade.
Edited by *~*Mehek*~* - 16 years ago