Quick Take: Urmila Matondkar

Are you doing Helen's Mehbooba... item number for RGV's Sholay?.
Yes. Mehbooba... is a song that I've danced to at parties and at discotheques. To do it on screen would be a challenging experience. In fact just sharing screen space with Mr. Bachchan would be exciting.

Another year gone by. How do you feel?
It was an interesting year. It started with Naina, which had a good opening. That surprised people. Naina had no star except me. But because of the bomb blasts in Delhi the same week Jo Bole So Nihaal and Naina got affected. People were too scared to come to the theatre. Then I had Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara where I had people from all walks of life coming forward to praise me. I stuck my neck out to do this film. When I read the script I knew it was Anupam's film, not mine. But I was impressed by the Gandhian theme and its relevance today.

Your forthcoming projects?
There's Harry Baweja-Vikram Bhatt's thriller titled Speed. There's Onirban's Bas Ek Pal. I'm with Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla and Rehaan Engineer. I like working with actors I haven't worked with before. I'll also be doing a film with Ram Gopal Varma with a new director Taufeeq.

It's amazing how you haven't allowed your professional relationship with Varma to suffer despite the unsavoury speculation.
It's time for all of us to take a mature view of working relationships in the film industry. Just because two individuals work closely and well it doesn't mean their rapport should be subject to constant scrutiny.