| Preity Zinta |
London dreams
Preity Zinta says she can't step out on the streets in London without bumping into one or the other of her filmi colleagues
Subhash K Jha
All of Bollywood seems to have descended on London. Last month it was the combined units of Priyadarshan's Bhaagam Bhaag and Vipul Shah's Namaste London turning London into a mini-Bollywood. Now it's Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq and Shaad Ali's Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom creating a dhoom in the city.
Among others, Preity Zinta is in London shooting for Shaad Ali's Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom. "Indeed, you can't step out on the streets here without bumping into one or the other of your film colleagues," says Preity. "I've been shooting with Shaad for two weeks. We call him Fidel on the sets because with his beard he looks like a young Fidel Castro. Ha ha. Abhishek has just arrived. And Bobby (Deol) was here. It was good to catch up with him after so long. We had a great time during Soldier. Bobby remains the same. Quiet and wise."
But Preity's still talking about Kabhie Alvida Naa Kehna. "I'm told KANK has raised quite a storm in India. Well, good. That's what movies should do. I don't understand why some people feel Karan Johar has gone too far. Arrey! People say, make something different. And when a filmmaker actually takes the plunge into the deeper end, people accuse him of going too far. Personally I feel proud to be in a film that pushes the envelope in mainstream cinema. I want to hug Karan for making KANK. In fact I'll get my chance to do so in the next 24 hours because Karan is coming to London."
Ask her about the limited space provided for Preity in KANK and she retorts, "Abhishek and I are like the anchors in the plot. I was never more scared of a role. A little bit this or that way , and my character could've toppled over. Thank God, Rhea doesn't comes across as a bitch. I constantly kept looking at Karan for reassurance. I never had to be directed so closely before. 'I don't want Preity Zinta. I want Rhea Saran,' Karan kept saying… As for the footage, hey we don't really live in those times any more when actors measured the length of each other's roles with measuring tapes, do we? Cinema has grown up. So have actors. KANK is proof of it."
Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom is Preity's first film with Shaad. "He's so quiet and yet so much in-charge on the sets. I've never had so much fun on location… But then come to think of it, I always make sure I've fun," she says.
So, when will she get back to Mumbai for a long while? "I wish I were at home. But then I'm just a paid slave. I have no time to savour the fruits of my job," she says.
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