Urmila's off to Dubai...

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sheetal

@sheetald

Rocker

Posted: 20 years ago

Urmila Matondkar sports the blues at the MTV Immies

Forget the international labels, it's always Manish for me," says loyalist Urmila Matondkar. "I'm sure he'll make me look good when I walk down the red carpet at the Dubai film festival," said the actress, who was at Mumbai airport bright and early yesterday morning.

Dubai date

"I keep missing out on international festivals; I was invited to be on the jury for the Singapore Film Festival, in November. But the dates clashed with Harry Baweja's film.

Since I had combination dates with Aftab Shivdasani, Zayed Khan and Sanjay Suri, I couldn't fly off for even a day. Then, earlier this month, I missed taking Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara (MGKNM) to the film festival in Pakistan. This time, I wasn't going to miss Dubai for the world."

New films

Jahnu Barua

The actress is on the verge of signing two new films with directors Onirban and Anurag Basu. "Though I've said yes to both in principle, it's a little premature to announce them yet.

Anurag Basu and his writer, Sanjeev Dutta, are both very sweet and will be good to work with. But I need to resolve a couple of issues before I say a final yes. Meanwhile, Dubai, here I come! The red carpet is tomorrow, and then the film will be screened."

Gandhi travels far

MGKNM director, Jahnu Barua, is with the actress in Dubai. The shy director seems content with the inroads his first Hindi film has made. "Actually, I never expected a Gandhian film to go so far. It has been screened in Pakistan, and now Dubai. I think it made far more money than I expected."

Now, Barua is ready with his second Hindi film, The Butterfly Chase, for a company called 7even Entertainment. "I'm glad I'm no longer known as a regional filmmaker," he laughs.

Adds Urmila, "Jahnu Bhai is much too self-effacing. On his set, a guest had to look three times to know the man sitting quietly in the corner was the director. Filmmakers from non-Hindi-speaking areas need to be far more assertive of their talents."