BIPASHA

Cocksure!

Sultry 'n' sexy trendsetter!

Original to the T!

Headstrong and cocksure!

In conversation with the Bengali beauty, Bipasha Basu, who cares a hoot for your opinion and lives by her own principles!

Clear and vocal about her priorities in life, the fiery siren chats up a storm about issues close to her heart. Bipasha says she is all set to charm her audiences with a clutch of forthcoming releases. Just released and gone down the drain is her love triangle with Bobby Deol, Barsaat, where she gave competition to the sensual Priyanka Chopra. The poor faring of the film at the turnstiles does not deter her for she says, "I enjoyed the glamorous role of a girl who believes in the innocence of love."

It's now time for her to sizzle on screen, wooing three men, in No Entry. Starring Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, and Fardeen Khan opposite Lara Dutta, Esha Deol and Celina Jaitley, respectively, Bipasha plays a dancer who lures these married men away. She had opted out of Masti because of its similarity with No Entry. She claims "I would have had to play similar roles in both films so I opted out of one. No Entry is a crazy comedy about married men and women. It's basically about the relationship between a husband and wife, a comedy about infidelity."

Bipasha plays a bar dancer and has to lose weight to get the perfect figure. Shooting at Cape Town was fun for the crew that bonded well but there were problems too. Like the alleged altercation with Salman Khan, when he supposedly acted fresh with Celina Jaitley! Bipasha reportedly came to her rescue. "Not true, Celina had no problems with Salman and she certainly didn't need me to sort out things for her," says Bipasha, adding, "When I landed in Cape Town, I was apprehensive about all these big stars and their bigger egos but once the work started they all turned out to be easy-going, fun-loving as well as hard-working people. We girls would gang up for partying, shopping, eating etc."

Bipasha bonded the best with Anil Kapoor. She reminisces, "Anil complimented me a lot although he had some initial reservations about me. He thought I was a drifter and a dreamer. Later, he noticed how involved I was and was pleasantly surprised. We'd invariably get into lengthy discussions about the film. Anil is fantastic at comedy. No Entry is going to be his film."

Bipasha believes in changing and evolving and that's why the hot and sexy Bipasha Basu donned the avtaar of a sati savitri with sindoor, mangalsutra, red sari, plaits… the works, for her look in Prakash Jha's hard-hitting film Apaharan. Shot in Satara, Maharashtra, where Jha has shot most of his movies (Gangajal, Mrityudand, Rahul) the city will represent modern day Bihar. In this realistic film, a touch of glamour has been given via Bipasha who also gets a chance to add another facet to her personality and on-screen image. She might just add some meat to her glamorous image. Ask her why Apaharan and she quickly replied, "Because it's different. I haven't done such a role before, so it sounded exciting. Apaharan isn't just about the kidnapping of people. It's a kidnapping of society and morality too."

"Ajay's character is the frustrated youth in Bihar who is unemployed and treads on a destructive path. Later, I make him realize that whatever he is doing isn't right. His character changes after that. The strong, hard-hitting story comments on today's society. I can't say for sure if such films make a difference but one shouldn't stop trying. Realistic films do affect some percentage of people. I loved the role of a small-town girl who's in love with Ajay and supports him through thick and thin till circumstances separate them. Then they meet again and their lives change once more." Nana Patekar too plays an important role of a corrupt politician who runs a parallel government via criminals.

In a strategic move, Basu has moved to bigger banners, accomplished directors and famous co-stars that add value to her films. "Though I have given great performances in films like Madhoshi and Chehra, they went unnoticed because the producers didn't promote the films well. I don't want to work in films that don't get adequate promotion." Bipasha now has Phir Hera Pheri, John Matthew Matthan's next, Dhoom 2 and Ritupurna Ghosh's next Bengali film.

After losing oodles of weight, the sexy Bips is on a roll. She laughs, "After losing that extra weight, I'm looking a younger than I used to. Today it is odd that I am getting girly roles compared to the time I was a newcomer and did mature roles, like in Jism. People do offer me women-oriented films, but I won't do them merely to make a point. The package – director, producer, cast, the role and the remuneration all has to be upto my expectations."

Explaining why she refused many offers in the past she informs, "I rejected a Vishesh Films' project because they insisted on casting Emraan Hashmi opposite me. I refused because I felt he wouldn't look convincing as my lover. I know Emraan is a commendable actor and have known him since Raaz, where he was the assistant director. You see, he has worked with petite heroines till date and I'd look too tall and big made, opposite him on screen." Bipasha also turned down Kamal Haasan's Mumbai Express. She explains, "That was because I was convinced I was being miscast. That I wouldn't look convincing as the mother of a 10-year-old. Also, the money they offered me was too less. As for Buddhadev Dasgupta's Bengali film, I rejected it for three reasons. One was dates, second the money, and lastly, the role was not to my liking. Sujoy Ghosh's Home Delivery and Yash Raj's Dhoom I turned down due to lack of dates on my part.

"I know that my demanding a huge price has become a big issue and is talked about in industry circles. I want to clarify that I deserve a certain price today. If I do reduce it for a particular film it will be because I want to reduce it and not because someone tells me to do so. I've come up the hard way, so it's up to me to decide how much money to charge. I'm neither answerable to anybody, nor am I here to do charity."

Bipasha Basu might be a tough lady but even she got a little bit under the weather regarding rumours of a rift between her and boyfriend John Abraham and his link-up with Esha Deol. She says, "I've never hidden anything about my personal life but I did decide a while ago that there is a limit to everything. I won't let people take me for granted. John and I have been together through many ups and downs, to feel insecure about mere rumours. I understand that he works with beautiful women! He too understands that I work with good-looking men. We trust each other and are happy. Rumours will continue to come our way. That's the price one has to pay for being in the limelight."