Hillary Swank is my friend now: Bipasha!

By Subhash K Jha

Although there was a major crisis on stage Bipasha had herself a whale of a time in Lisbon. Just one regret. "John who's shooting in Pondicherry couldn't watch me at the 7 Wonders Of The World Show. There was no electricity where he was. But I'll make him see the entire experience on a DVD."

The teleprompters ceased to work during the 7 Wonders show in Lisbon. "The teleprompters conked out during rehearsal itself. We never thought it wouldn't work during the show.

Then during the event the teleprompters came on and just disappeared. It came on. I started reading. But then representatives from various countries walked by in front of the tele-prompters, so we couldn't see what was written, just had to go by me memory. Then it just went off!

We had to read out from a paper. But my co-hosts Sir Ben and Hillary Swank were so good we managed without teleprompters. Somehow we pulled our segment through. I hope I managed well. The three of us laughed and had so much fun."

When the Taj was announced Bipasha was in seventh heaven. "The envelope announcing the Taj Mahal was with me. Everyone was so happy. Sir Ben is half Indian you know. His real name is Krishna. His great grandfather was Gujarati. He was really nice to me. So was Hillary Swank. We had so much fun."

Bipasha has made friends for life. " Hillary Swank and Sir Ben Kingsley are friends for life. I plan to keep in touch with them."

Then there was pop star Chaka Khan. "She was wonderful. I made everyone call me 'Basu' with a big pout. During the entire trip everyone would go 'Basooo Basooo' with a big pout.

With that Basu thing going, no one could forget me at the event. They didn't know who I was. But everyone wanted to know who I was. The attention and appreciation was a big high. The whole experience was a dream come true."

Sighs Bipasha, "I'm exhausted. I did the 7 Wonders Show. Then I partied all night in Lisbon and took a flight back to Mumbai. I haven't had a chance to breathe. I landed in Lisbon on the 5th --without my luggage. And left on the 8th afternoon. It was a whirlwind tour."

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