PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO-Updates 2(Prem is back) - Page 106

The actress admits she was initially intimidated by her co-star Salman Khan.

Sonam Kapoor looks elegant in a black anarkali as she checks out pictures on her cell phone from a Halloween party she attended recently. She had dressed as Wednesday from Charles Addams' comic strip The Addams Family.

Buzz is, she turned down a role in dad Anil Kapoor's Indian adaptation of the popular American sitcom, Modern Family. "No one has made me an offer yet so I couldn't have rejected it. If there is a suitable role for me, I'm game," she smiles.

For now, the actress has her hands full with three soon-to-roll productions. "I may act in one, even two of them," she says, but refutes the rumour that one of them is a chick flick with Katrina Kaif. "We are currently working on a film adaptation of the bestselling novel, Battle for Bittora, which will kickstart once the script is in place. Before that, Khoobsurat director Shashanka Ghosh will direct another film for us for which casting is on."

Hasn't Farhan Akhtar replaced Fawad Khan in Battle for Bittora? "He might still be doing it," asserts Sonam, adding that she hopes the Pakistani actor will be working with them a lot more. "But till the script is locked, I can't comment on the casting. All I know is that I am doing the film. Period." On November 9, Sonam completes eight years in Bollywood.

Three days later, Sooraj Barjatya's family drama, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, opens in the theatres. "I've been a huge fan of Soorajji's films, they are so entertaining and his leading ladies have so much to do. My character, Maithili, knows exactly what she wants which is really cool. Plus, I get to play a princess," she beams.

But isn't this sweeter-thansugar rajkumari very different from the bold, outspoken Sonam? "That's good, na?" she quips. "It means that I can act. None of my characters have been close to the real me, whether it's the Delhi-6 girl, the South Delhi Aisha or even the Khoobsurat doctor. Maithili is a girl from modern times rooted in our Indian culture. In one of the key scenes in the film, she refuses to be pressurised into a marriage saying, 'I'd rather be happy and alone than be unhappy with somebody.' I too come from a traditional Indian family but at the end of the day, my parents also let me know that I'm a strong individual."

So who is her favourite Barjatya heroine, Bhagyashree from Maine Pyar Kiya or Madhuri Dixit from Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!? "Madhuri's Nisha, Bhaygyashree's Suman was too straightforward and none of my characters have followed that path, whether it's Sakina in Saawariya or Bittu in Delhi-6. They may not be lovable girls but for me they were exciting to play," she reasons.

Sonam got a chance to be serenaded by the original Prem, Salman Khan in the upcoming Diwali dhamaka. She admits that she was initially quite intimidated by her co-star. "Salman is such a superstar and incredibly charismatic. But Soorajji and he went out of their way to make me comfortable," she says, adding that the only blip was her coming down with swine flu while filming in Gujarat. "It was scary, I missed four-five days of work which I made up for later."

Sonam recently wrapped up the Neerja Bhanot biopic in which she plays the flight attendant who was killed while saving passengers from terrorists. "It was daunting to play someone so heroic because you don't want to let their memories down," she says. "I gave the film my 150 per cent, even overprepped for it. There was a lot of research involved. It is the scariest film I have done."