Simply Hot - Amrita Rao Interview

Dressed in an olive off-shoulder tee and blue jeans, the svelte and petite Amrita Rao looks nothing like the sexy girl we see in the promos of Short Kut –The Con Is On. She is still very much the cute girl-next-door you'd like to take home to mom. But Amrita doesn't buy that. "An actor is as good as the role,"she says in defence of her hot makeover. And what better role to shed inhibitions than that of an actress? As Mansi, she plays a girl who hails from a mediocre background and hits stardom. "As an actress, the role gave me an opportunity to explore different costumes,"she smiles, acknowledging Manish Malhotra for putting her in hot pants and singlets that has got her "amazing feedback from London-based fans for exploring a new side".

Would she have dared to bare, say two years ago, when Vivah happened? "You can't calculate these things, they just happen to you. This opportunity came to me now," she says shortly. In fact, she had confessed that if she ever exposed on screen, it would be a la Bo Derek in a bikini, coming out of the water. "Did I say that?"she says surprised, and adds that she indeed has done a similar scene in Short Kut... . She is grateful to director Neeraj Vora for casting her in a role that is completely different from the ones she played so far. "Most of my roles have had streaks of a real girl from the real world. An actress, on the other hand, is perceived as larger than life and this role gives me that dimension,"she explains.

Yet, there are aspects of the role with which she identifies, like the girl retaining the "quintessential qualities of the real world". In the film, her parents don't like her being an actress and are very interfering in her personal life. However, Mansi does not succumb to family pressure and goes out to carve a niche for herself in the star-studded, glamorous world. "She is a strong woman, and very different from the characters I have played,"she stresses.

Her detractors, however, feel that the pretty actress is feeling the heat from newer, hotter girls, which is why she is dropping her simplistic look and embracing a sleek, sexy avatar. "I would only pity them for their lack of foresight,"she says dismissively and is all praise for directors who have "the vision" to cast her in contrasting roles. "Farah (Khan) saw me in this coffee commercial where I was this sweet, shy girl who couldn't even speak about her boyfriend to her father and cast me in a tomboy's role (Sanjana) in Main Hoon Na,"she says appreciative of her director. She also talks fondly of a song Tum mile in My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, which gave her a contemporary look and hairstyle (read, sexy). She rates it as one of her best looks. That was the trailer that paved the way for the full-blown makeover in Short Kut....

Short Kut..., incidentally, a remake of Malaylam hit film Udayananu Thaaram, is about two friends, a struggling writer and a wannabe actor who dreams of making it big. The heroine is an aspiring actress who marries the writer but due to circumstances, the couple is estranged. Amrita, however, doesn't want to discuss the story and insists that Anil Kapoor only initiated the idea from the film. "Neeraj changed the plot and has re-shot the climax. We have two endings to the film,"she lets on. So, has she seen the original? "No, I didn't want to get influenced and I am sure this film will have a body and soul of its own,"she clarifies. As for her co-stars Akshaye Khanna and Arshad Warsi, Amrita says working with the duo was challenging. "While Akshaye is a one-take actor, Arshad is high on improvisations,"she reveals.

Though she may not exactly have had a trail-blazing innings in her career, the actress has notched up some of the finest roles with acclaimed directors like Shyam Benegal (Welcome To Sajjanpur) and Sooraj R.Barjatya (Vivah).

Though the role of Kamala in ...Sajjanpur won her rave reviews, she doesn't feature in Benegal's next, Well Done Abba. "There's no contract that says he should cast me in all his films, but working with him was an experience of a lifetime,"says Amrita, who after Madhuri Dixit is also M.F. Hussain's muse .

However, for every triumph, the actress has also had to contend with a setback. Her last film Victory was a box-office dud. "There were flaws and drawbacks but the intention was pure,"she says in defence of the debutante director, Ajit Pal. After all, hadn't she struck big with another debutante director Ken Ghosh in Ishq Vishq? The petite actress is all set to star in his next directorial venture, which will have her Ishq Vishq hero Shahid Kapoor too. "It's at a nascent stage and I don't want to talk about,"she pouts prettily. However, there's one dream she would like to share with us and that is acting with Hrithik Roshan. "I am a huge fan of him," she gushes.