Right now you are the industry's Midas girl — every project you touch turns into gold!
I wish I could place my hand on my movies and tell you how much they mean to me. I pray very hard and I truly believe that I'm blessed. My mother has been doing a lot of charity since the past 35 years. I believe I am reaping the benefits of her good karma and positive energy. Whenever I visit Siddhivinayak temple or the Ajmer Sharief dargah,
I am very honest about what I ask God. I say, 'God I love this film and I wish it works'. Beyond that there is no answer because it's fairly unusual for so many films to have done well. I have worked with good directors and God has answered my prayers.
Your fee has reportedly touched the Rs 3 crore mark. You would obviously be unaffordable for a low-budget film.
Money should never dictate your choice of films. This was something taught to me by a very senior person whom I respect a lot. He told me, "Never do films for money. Rather make money doing ad films and shows. I have seen a few brilliant small-budget films recently and had somebody approached me with a bound script, I would have done it 100 per cent. I would even urge the media, 'This is a five crore film. So please do not judge it on the level of Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.'
From your debut Boom, which went bust to this year's superhit Ajab…, what lessons have you picked up ALONG the way?
I've learnt to keep my mind open and be ready to learn. People ask me why I've not worked with new directors. I am so eager to learn that at times I tend to stick to experienced ones so that I can imbibe from their experience. Having said that, Kabir Khan is relatively new. New York was his second film. But it was a great experience. Also, one should never believe that one is a star or somebody important. It's important for an actor to bring his or her character alive and not be afraid to experiment. One must never do anything out of fear either.
The audience loves you with Akshay Kumar.
That's because we've done so many films together. If I do five films with somebody else and they work, they'll say I click with so and so. There are no absolutes in the film industry. People had said that the films I did this year wouldn't do well. But they turned out to be the biggest successes for me. Honestly, the audience's reaction to Ajab... took me by surprise.
Your rivalry with Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha Basu is well documented. Is there any actress whom you can call a friend?
It's rubbish. I've always loved Kareena. I always loved Priyanka and I like her work although we have not interacted much. There's not even one per cent of discomfort with Priyanka. We have learnt kathak from the
same guruji. Things got blown out of proportion with Bipasha. We did have an issue, which is now sorted. Now, we both feel that it was silly. I've always maintained that she has been nice.
(For the full interview by Anuradha Choudhary, pick up the Filmfare issue dated December 23, 2009)
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