Mita Vashishth turns cabaret dancer for a film

By Radhika Bhirani

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) Actress Mita Vashishth, often categorised as a serious offbeat artiste in Bollywood, is in for a role reversal. She is set to play a flamboyant cabaret dancer in Sai Paranjpe's comeback film.

"Yes, I am playing a cabaret dancer for Sai Paranjpe's comeback film 'Khoon Toh Hona Hi Tha' (Paranjpe is directing the film after an 11-year break). I have grown up watching her films and she has offered me a very interesting role," Mita told IANS Wednesday.

Mita was present here at the ongoing 10th Osian's-Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema. In 2005, the actress was a jury member at the festival, but this year she is just catching up on films.

Mita, who has been noted for her roles in "Ghulam", "Dil Se" and "Phir Milenge" in recent times, is unsure whether she will be asked to dance to sensuous numbers.

"The role is actually that of a cabaret dancer probably in her late 30s. So I really don't know what I am in for. The cabaret dancer is deeply connected to a businessman who is killed in the film. So that makes her role important. It will be a great comedy thriller. Cabaret is something I never thought of doing so it is also really exciting," she said.

The film has an ensemble cast including actors like Deepti Naval, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Suhasini Mulay and Yatin Karekar.

Apart from "Khoon Toh Hona Hi Tha", Mita has three other Bollywood films as well as one Bengali movie. These are director B.H. Tharun Kumar's "Rafoochakkar - Fun On The Run", Sujoy Ghosh's fantasy flick "Aladdin" and a comedy called "Care of Mr. Azgaonkar and Family".

Her Bengali project is titled "Antaheen".

After essaying serious roles, it seems Mita is into comedies in a big way.

"Yes, people have always typecast me as a serious actor. In fact, so much so that now that I am doing some comedy films, they might just start calling me a serious comedy actress," she quipped.

Mita is also active in theatre and social work and says she has experimented with a variety of roles in her acting career.

"I have done a whole range of films in my career. From a Mani Kaul to a Mani Ratnam - I have done them all."