Q: Was it a challenge playing a normal girl, so to speak, working in a bank?
A: (With mock-sternness) Why should it be? Am I not normal???
Q: What we mean is this simple, middle-class girl from Shimla who gets caught up with Hrithik Roshan as this man in trouble.
A: But that's the concept director Siddharth Anand liked " of an unpredictable, crazy guy and this unexposed banker and how he gradually transforms her life. That's what he took from "Knight and Day," along with some highlights to make what is a completely different film.
Q: You were part of the action too. Did that need training or any special level of fitness?
A: Different films need different levels of fitness from me, but here I remain the simple girl till the end. In "Dhoom:3," I was a strong gymnast in a circus and I needed that look and physique. In "Ek Tha Tiger," I was an agent doing action, so the fitness was there but not to the level of "Dhoom:3." Tomorrow, if a role needs me to look athletic, I will make sure I will.
Q: And what's a bank person doing singing songs in glamorous clothes?
A: Oh, certain liberties have to be taken in cinema. It was a dream sequence, and in my character Harleen's dream, she loves to wear short skirts and clothes! In my dreams, even I like to wear such clothes! (Laughs)
Q: Four flops in a career of over 22 films " surely, such a high success percentage cannot be all luck? Your take on this?
A: Four? I have had only two flops " if you are talking about Hindi films! "Boom" wasn't a Hindi film, and are you including my South Indian films?
Q: No, but we did include "Boom," so that makes three!
A: I have had only two flops!
Q: Then that's all the more reason for my question to be relevant! This cannot be all luck.
A: This cannot be all luck? Hmmm! See, nobody has the answer to this! In my position, I will just keep praying that this record remains! Whatever reasons " a sixth sense of what audiences like " I would hope that my script sense tallies with what I want to do. So far, I have been happy for the most part with my choices and the places wherein I found myself.
Q: Besides the "Dhoom:3" track, which are your other favorite songs?
A: I have liked all my songs. In the dance space, my song from "Bang Bang!" is one of my favorites. I also love "Chikni Chameli" from "Agneepath."
Q: And who are the special people you credit with your success?
A: I feel that success is a mountain, or a ladder, and at every step there is someone who is responsible for or is a part of your success. I know of people who did not want to work with me then, and thus there is all the more reason to appreciate those who believed in themselves and in the director and worked with me. As for those who did not, I don't take it too hard, though.
Q: Your accent has not shown significant change in over a decade. Are there also times when you have told your director to change the lines you have to speak because of language issues?
A: I do have the capability to improvise. But I tell my director if such a situation arises and ask him to frame the correct alternative in such a way that I can say the lines well!
But who was it who told me that in any language there is no limit to how correct you can be? I think it was Amit-ji (Amitabh Bachchan). So, about the question of will I ever be good enough or correct enough, I think that as long as I do my best and I am accepted by the audience, it's okay. Accent is not a reason or cause for success or failure as long as you are emoting correctly. There are Spanish actresses in Hollywood who speak with such a strong accent. But they do their work well and the accent does not matter.
Anupamaa
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