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I cannot be with any man who is starry: Bipasha Basu (INTERVIEW)
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, June 23 (IANS) Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu, eagerly awaiting the release of her next film "Corporate", says she is worried by the fact that boyfriend John Abraham fell ill and then injured himself in a motorbike accident. 

                           

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"When you are close to someone, you are bound to get affected. At this point of his career he needs to be on the go. Knowing the business both of us are in, we can't afford such setbacks," Bipasha told IANS.

"An accident is a freak happening. Anything can happen any time. John needs to be careful with his health. He was shooting in Kabul in miserable unhygienic conditions. People there kiss your cheeks instead of hello. Infection does spread." 

Bipasha believes in 'buri nazar'. 

"When I started my career I used to get fan mail in hordes raving about my eyes. Then, for one year, I had an eye infection every two days. I started believing in 'nazar' after that. People love John. Maybe 'nazar lagi'! Uski bike ko to definitely nazar lag gayi..." 

Bipasha is not perturbed by rumours because she believes it's part of celebrities' lives.

"With success and popularity, we are bound to have rumours and bad press. If we can't handle it, we shouldn't be part of the entertainment industry. John has had too much adulation and speculation in too little time. Fortunately, he remains down-to-earth in spite of being so successful and so adulated."

And Bipasha? 

"I am very down-to-earth. I cannot be with any man who is starry." 

When asked about a film with John, she said: "The films he is doing are very interesting. But sometimes the scope for the leading lady is very limited. I don't want to do a film just for being with him. 

"Whatever we do now, it has to be special. Let's see. If it happens, it happens. But I must say he has too many heroines to choose from. I don't have that many heroes to choose from." 

Bipasha hasn't seen herself in Ram Gopal Varma's "Darna Zaroori Hai" yet. 

"I have to see it to have an opinion. Ramu (Varma) and I have been discussing so many scripts. Nothing worked out. He suggested 'Darna Zaroori Hai'. I found it interesting. It was a simple story."

She is scared of ghosts. "I don't know whether they exist but I am petrified of ghosts, although my first blockbuster 'Raaz' was a ghost story. I am sure there are spirits out there, but I don't want them visiting me just to prove they exist."

She is quite angry with the makers of her previous release "Humko Deewana Kar Gaye". 

"I don't want to see it. The makers had promised me I'd be a surprise in the film. And I thought that was the best way to treat my brief role. But my images were taken from some unknown source and used on the hoardings. 

"From now on I want everything on paper. Who gave them permission to take my pictures from some other source? Were they trying to say an actress doesn't have any rights? The only other time when I had such an experience was Vipul Shah's 'Aankhen'. I didn't want to be on hoardings for a song. It may have helped their film. But it doesn't help me in any way." 

But she is quite happy with her career. 

"I have quite a balanced career right now. I had a multi-starrer 'Phir Hera Pheri'. Then there's 'Corporate' and 'Dhoom 2'. And in all three I am very different. 

"As for 'Corporate' I am not playing the central character. There are 35 characters in 'Corporate'. I have to make a mark against top theatre actors. Everyone from Rajat Kapoor to Harsh Chhaya to Sammir Dattani and Minissha Lamba is a definite character."

Bipasha admits she is excited to see how Madhur Bhandarkar has directed her. "Being a total 'man-man' Madhur can still get into the mind of a woman. I find that interesting. I'd love every man to understand a woman. But it seldom happens." 

She hasn't worked with a female director so far. "But I came close to working with one. Pooja Bhatt was the producer of 'Jism'. I don't know what it would be like when a strong woman like me works with a strong director. I hope the results won't be negative. 

"I'll tell you something - I always enjoy being photographed by male photographers far more than women. I am less inspired by a female photographer... Having said that, I'd love to work with Mira Nair. We came close to working together. And I love Deepa Mehta's 'Water'."

Talk veers to John in Mehta's neo-classic. "He has fitted in very nicely. With his biker-in-a-vest image he has got into his Gandhian khadi look so effortlessly. There was this unstated chemistry between John and Lisa Ray, which I loved. 

"But I felt the vastness of Varanasi (where 'Water' was supposed to be shot) was very much restricted in Sri Lanka. But great content! When I like a film I really watch it closely."

Bipasha isn't in a hurry to sign films. 

"I really don't want to do the realistic roles alone. I have to balance them with glamorous roles. I have to satisfy my fans and myself as an actor. So, along with 'Corporate', I am very happy shooting Abbas-Mustan's film."

She's all set to work with Rituparno Ghosh. 

"He has come to me with so many scripts. But I want to do 'Draupadi' with him. I have grown up hearing the tales from the 'Mahabharata'. Draupadi is a favourite character. People say I am too westernised to play Draupadi. But I know myself. This is one thing that Ritu and I are definitely doing together."

She turns fatalistic. "The lows will come. I am prepared for that. Though I know I'll go on for a long time I am ready to take failure and then success. It is an inevitable cycle. 

"Today, I do only the films that will get an audience. Even when I do a realistic film, it will have to be with a big filmmaker. Earlier, I was too shy to do so. But today if I want to work with a particular director I can go and ask him for work. But for this I have to genuinely like a director's work."