Bipashu Basu

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This 5' 8", light-eyed, culcutta girl, came into the limelight when she won the Famous Ford Supermodels Contest at the age of 17. Bipasha Basu was the second daughter in the family and her pet name was bonny. She also won the Tulips Miss Super Vivacious in the same contest.

This Bengali bombshell is bold enough to accept an unusual role in her debut films. She was a household name much before she entered films. Besides doing innumerable prestigious ads, Bips, as her friends call her, did the famous video ‘Tu...’ for Sonu Nigam’s album, Kismat. Apart from modelling and acting her other hobbies include dancing, reading and helping her mother with interior designing.

INTERVIEW WITH BIPASHU

What is Jism all about?

It tells the story about this ambitious woman who would do anything to achieve her goals. She wants her husband's business and his money. She encounters another guy, played by John Abraham. She gets intimate with him. They both decide to kill the husband. But the incident leaves John feeling guilty. He decides to bring about justice. And how he does that forms the crux of the story.

What has been your reaction to the film after watching it?

Jism has turned out to be just the way I thought it would be- very different. The way it has been shot... the way the characters have been portrayed... the way the music is. I haven't thought about the audience reaction at all. The only thing I know is that I'm happy to be a part of it. The kind of a role that I have played in the film, no actress would have played it. That's what makes it so attractive! And I'm doing this kind of a role at a time when I'm just being acknowledged as an actress... I'm being praised. And that feels good. I'm particularly thankful to the media for their support. That's the way filmmakers will be encouraged to make film with bold and different themes. Like when I visited Delhi for the Jism's promotion many journalists told me that how there was an emergence of a new kind of actress. That's what I really liked about them. They saw me just the way I saw myself in the character, giving me a sense of fulfillment!

What about the explicit scenes that the media wrote about?

See Jism is an emotional... or rather mature love story. It was bound to have scenes involving a kiss... a sensuous touch et al. But none of the scenes look vulgar. I have seen kissing scenes in Hindi films before. It looks absolutely vulgar even when done by the best of actors and actresses. Also a little discomfort and it shows on screen and that makes it look even more vulgar. But here Pooja Bhatt and Amit Saxena have handled them so well that it looks aesthetic. They don't look forced and move with the story. They are not incorporated to unnecessarily titillate the audience. Those who have seen the film didn't come out of the theatres saying that "Oh shit there was a smooching scene." They all have enjoyed the story on the whole.

But do you think sex plays a major part to lure the public to the theatres?

Sex has been taboo in our country. People are so sex starved that it is just not funny. It's high time that they know something about it. I think in a gradual way we should make people accept as a normal part of life. We eat... sleep... brush our teeth... take bath... so we have sex too. Only when they will watch these kind of films that there will be more awareness. We should start from very basic level. The masses should know that sex is something very beautiful... ultimate way to show your love for the other person rather than say that "Oh! We can't see this!" and "We can't watch this!" If you can do it then why not see it? Why is there this hypocrisy? I'm not in anyway embarrassed by what I have done in Jism. I stood in front of the audience, went to the press conference very well knowing the kind of questions that were going to come to me. And I handled them well and they understood what my point of view.

The film industry is famous for branding actors with their image. Didn't you feel apprehensive about being tagged as a sex symbol?

I love being called sexy! I don't want to shed that image because I'm that's what I'm in my personal life. And I think every actress, whether she admits or not, wants to look sexy in the films that she does. I have not deliberately worked towards it. The sexy tag has just followed me automatically and I take it as a compliment. It comes naturally to me. It is not that I'm trying to put on fake sexy act.

How easy or difficult was it to do the uninhibited scenes?

I believed in the film. I believed in the character I was playing in the film. I was completely comfortable doing those scenes. Nobody forced me and told me "You have to do this". I agreed to do what I thought I would be comfortable with.

Did the presence of co-star John Abraham, whom you reportedly share a good rapport with, make a difference to your comfort level in the love making scenes?

Definitely. But let me clarify that I did not know John when I signed the film. In fact, I didn't even know who my co-star was going to be. When I accepted the film I very well knew what was going to be involved. I would have done the scenes even if John were not to be my co-star. But I don't know how it would look then. Amit and Pooja always asked me "What will you be comfortable with?" and I would frankly say "I can't go beyond this," and they respected my decision.

Right from Ajnabee to Jism you have chosen to do films and roles with unconventional subjects and themes. Has that been deliberate?

Yes! I consider myself as part of the audience. And I'm bored watching films with similar stories. I can't sit through most of them. So in order to sit through my film at least I had to do something different... something unconventional that would hold my interest. And I like to play unconventional characters. It so easy to play what you are! The real test to do the roles that you cannot ever be in real life. Also I'm little strange in my choice of roles (laughs).

How strange?

Like I listen to 100 narrations everyday out of which only one appeals to me. We say Hindi filmmakers are copying Hollywood films and doing nothing else. And I say that they should do that so that at least 70% of our illiterate audience would get to see what they would never get to see otherwise. It's better than sit through senseless and trash Hindi film.

What other films do you have on hand?

There's Vikram Bhatt's Aitbaar with Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham. I'm also doing Vikram's Footpath with Aftab Shivdasani. There's Rohit Shetty's Zameen with Abhishek Bachchan. There's also Glen and Ankush's Jaane Kya Hoga with Aftab again. I have also agreed to do Mani Shankar's Rudraksh with Sanjay Dutt.