Sex kitten purrfects her act

She might be considered the sex goddess of Bollywood but, at heart, Bipasha Basu still comes across as the girl-next-door. Stylish, she exudes an uninhibited exuberance with a perfect blend of beauty and brains. Bipasha faced the camera for the first time in Abbas Mustan's Ajnabee and there has been no looking back for her since then.

However, the Bong beauty seems to have learnt her lessons the hard way. From now on, she has decided to only work with big banners and directors. Is it true? "Yes, absolutely. I would rather put my talent in a place where I get good returns for it. I have worked with enough new directors and small producers. Plus, I don't think they were marketing my films the way it should have been. For example, Madhoshi was a very good film, where I and John put our best but it wasn't publicised in a right manner," says Basu.

Her choice to do 'bold' roles right at the outset of her career gave Bipasha many titles such as "sex kitten" and "sexy siren." Ask her if she regrets doing those films and she shots back, "It's unfortunate but people seem to have forgotten that my first film was Ajnabee which doesn't have any bold scene. Otherwise too, I have no regrets about the choices I have made till date in my career. Till date, Jism remains my favourite movie which, I believe, was shot in a very aesthetic manner," she says.

The model-turned-actress has had a successful stint in Bollywood with films like Ajnabee, Jism, Raaz, No Entry and and more recently Apaharan. But this dusky beauty certainly knows how to keep her feets on the ground. With her quintessential charm, she confesses that she still hasn't come to terms with her celebrity status. "I have never ever thought of myself to be a star. I always treat this as my profession and believe in giving my best shot to it. I don't believe in carrying that baggage of being a star," she exclaims.

For the uninitiated, all the glamour and flashlights is not new for her as she won the Ford Super Model contest at 17 while she was still in school. "Winning the contest was a turning point in my life," she says. Bipasha seems to have everything — beauty, talent, huge fan following, financial stability and yes, hunky John Abraham as a boyfriend. "Be it on-screen or off-screen, John and I share tremendous chemistry. We are the best of friends and talk about everything under the sun.

Professionally too, we would love to do a film together at the moment because people love to watch us together in a film. The biggest example is the stupendous success of Jism. Right now, we are looking for a good script which we are not being able to find," says Bipasha. The hottest couple in the town recently shot an ad together for an anti- dandruff shampoo. "It was a great fun to do an ad together and it becomes very special when we get to know that people like us together. I think our personalities gel with each other perfectly," she adds.

Quite satisfied with her career graph, Basu wants to experiment with all kinds of roles in the future to "reach maximum number of audience." She says, "Be it family, kids, youngsters, older people or even so-called niche audience, I want them all to see and appreciate my films. I don't want to impress a particular group of audience. In my future films, I will be experimenting with comedy to serious to drama to reach larger audiences."

After a rib tickling comedy No Entry, her role in recently released Apaharan won her rave reviews from fans as well as critics. "It feels great to be appreciated because a lot of people asks me if it was difficult to switch gears after No Entry. But I am an actress and believe in following my director's instinct. So, I enjoy all my films be it a comedy or a realistic film like Apaharan," she says. Bipasha has her kitty full with films like Phir Hera Pheri by Priyadarshan, Jeevansh, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye by Abbas Mustan, Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, Dhoom 2 and Nehle Pe Dehla.

"I am at a very exciting point of career with an array of roles lined up in the coming days," she says. And finally, what about marriage plans? "I will definitely get married some time in the future because I have absolute faith in the institution of marriage. But it's too early to think about marriage. At least, for the next five years, I won't be thinking about it. And remember, Bengali girls are known for not getting married so quickly," she quips.