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Catwalk... from ramps to films
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Quick-witted, humorous, serious and worldly-wise. That's how Lara Dutta comes across as RANA A. SIDDIQUI catches up with the former Miss Universe whose debut vehicle "Andaaz" has just kissed the silver screen... .
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COMPLIMENT HER for a spotless skin, and she says, "Believe me it is only nariyal paani and nothing else." Tell her that she looks fresh and fit all the time, and you get to know that she is a "complete fitness buff". You find her a very good orator and she owes it to her "active school days in Air Force Bal Bharti School, Mumbai," where she participated in debates, elocution, sports and gathered a heap of medals and certificates.
This is Lara Dutta, former Miss Universe, who makes her silver screen debut in Raj Kunwar's "Andaaz" -- released in New Delhi this past week. Her co-stars are Akhshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra.
She plays a "tomboyish character, a chatterbox who has fixed ideas about life but at the same time who knows where she is heading. She goes through a lot in the film after one incident makes her withdraw into a shell. She starts questioning herself," recounts Lara of her role.
What made her choose the role? "I had read a lot scripts before finalising it just four days before the shoot. It was pure gut instinct. Moreover, the role is total. It is well defined. Never would people look back at the film and say that I chose the wrong film for a debut," she assures.
Priyanka - who has been appreciated for her performance in "The Hero" - shares the screen parallel with her. "She is playing a pivotal role in this film, but given a choice, I would not have gone for that role, because you see so many such characters in so many films."
Speaking of stereotypes, this is certainly the umpteenth time a beauty queen has romped from ramp to silver screen, regardless of the earnest pledges to work for social uplift made for the benefit of the beauty contest judges. "It makes sense, both economically and career wise. It is silly if you just kick a golden horse when it comes to you. You must cash in on what you have best as an offer in the nick of the time." She does not try to hide that she had a few other options, though in her childhood she never aspired to be in films.
" I just wanted to be anything but a film actress!" she emphasises. "Sometimes I wanted to be a ballerina, sometimes an athlete and what not!"
Her initial experience on the sets did not do much to counteract this "disinterest in films" either. It turned out to be something of an endurance test. "On the very first day of the shooting I got huge bruises all over my neck, arms and knees. Though it was a romantic song, it required all kinds of stunts."
And then there was the lingo to be learned. "On the sets I was asked, `madam, aapka boy kahan hai?' I was taken aback. Later, I was told that your personal make-up man, spot boys and other assistants are called `boys' there!"
If the way she narrates a hilarious incident is a gauge of her healthy sense of humour, serious topics equally portray her as a thinking being. She can comment on changing trends in audiences as well as the pros and cons of crossover cinema.
"It feels good when we see that we can make intelligent crossover films without losing our Indian ethos. It is a good exposure for Indian film-makers, but that does not mean that we can go gaga over them without knowing audiences' fast changing tastes for films. They are growing smarter and more aware day by day. After watching films like `Devdas' on such a huge canvas they are spoiled. Now it does not matter to them if certain songs in a film are shot in Switzerland if the script is not gripping. Now even an average film watcher thinks twice before spending 100 rupees for a film. He likes to remember the film at least for a few days for the real value of his money. The success of `Raaz' and `Chandni Bar' even in small centres has proved that they are appreciating change."
Lara however believes that whatever `different films' the Hindi film industry comes out with, audiences finally look for the innocence and emotions that define the Bollywood prototype. "The emotional aspects depicted in our films are fast capturing audiences abroad, for they lack them in their films."
But she cannot help appreciating a few things about the approach to film-making in the West. "The best thing about the film-makers abroad is their script research. They spend six years in script research and only six months in shooting, while in Bollywood it is just the opposite. It is high time we mend our ways," says this newcomer with a smart head on her skimpily clad shoulders.
Her way with words, it seems, is not reserved for screen dialogues alone. Politics is something that fascinates her. "Politics is far more glamorous than films. It is a very fascinating, very intriguing field to work in."
Does this foretell yet another step on a path much taken? Well, as to joining politics in the near future, she does not rule it out altogether, though she tries to parry the query with a distinct smile. "Well, you never know. But I think I am too young to be in politics, no?"
"Nervous if not scared" about the response of the audience to "Andaaz", she has other ways to please them through her forthcoming films. For instance, "a very realistic yet very commercial film `Aan'" by Madhur Bhandarkar, opposite Akhshay Kumar, and `Jurm' and `Bardasht' by E. Niwas, both opposite Sunny Deol.
In "Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost" she plays a comic character "which is quite unlike" her. "I play a bubbly bee from Rajasthan sporting all colourful, heavy lehanga, shehangas... "
And we wait for our friends from tinsel town to come back flying to Delhi in a new "Andaaz".
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