You debuted in Abbas Mustan’s Ajnabee 10 years ago and you are now doing Players with them. Has life come full circle?

I am moving straight ahead… it’s not a circle yet (laughs). This is my fourth film with Abbas Mustan. One film got stuck, but Ajnabee and Players apart, I have also done Race with them. They have progressed in the kind of films they make… they do make commercially viable, very entertaining films… but with every film they have come up with something better. And I am also trying to push the envelope with every performance. And now with Players, hopefully we will entertain a lot more people.

Is Players a copy-paste of The Italian Job?

Players is the official remake of The Italian Job (a 1969 film starring Michael Caine that was remade in 2003), but it’s not the exact same film. The plot is much thicker… there are many new characters… the screenplay is very different from the original. We are catering to an audience for a Hindi film and to a viewer in 2012, so we obviously had to move beyond the original film and make it much more interesting. The energy… the synergy… everything is different.

Your character Riya wasn’t there in The Italian Job. Was not having a reference point an impediment or a boon in disguise?

It’s a boon! And honestly, I don’t know how many people who will go in for Players would have watched The Italian Job anyway. Riya is my own… she is shaped by how I thought the character should be played and by my directors’ vision.

 

You shot in some really exotic locations. Proof: your Twitter pictures…

(Laughs) (R.) Madhavan has actually given me a Japanese name because I keep taking pictures of everyone and my own and posting them on Twitter. Apparently this is a Japanese habit! But yes, I can say that the Players team has been really lucky because we shot at the Arctic Circle, at a place called Murmansk in Russia. Sometimes, the temperature would go down to minus 30 degrees and it would become completely dark. To communicate, you either had to know Russian or sign language. The team got much closer when we went to Russia because we only had each other for company. I am a friendly person, but you won’t find me socialising with my co-actors. But Players has given me friends who I can call home and have dinner with.

 

Does featuring in a multistarrer take pressure off an individual actor?

Not really, because at the end of the day all of us are playing different characters who will come together and make a film. The pressure is never less. And why even think of pressure in the first place? (Laughs). We are actors… it’s not a normal nine-to-five job. It’s a business that each of us has chosen to be in. Every film comes with its own responsibility and pressure. Then only will you have a great film.

 

Your bikini look in Players is a rage. Do you think that too much is made of a Bollywood heroine wearing a bikini on screen?

I really understand where the curiosity comes from. Halle Berry wore a bikini in a James Bond film (Die Another Day) and it did create a stir. So much was discussed — what she ate… how much she exercised… how she looked in that orange bikini…. So why should we blame India? When a shot like that is done, it will be discussed, no matter which country it is. It is supposed to be this very sexy, sensuous shot of a woman. And for Players, we needed that gloss and that package and that sauciness because it is that kind of a film. I wore a bikini thinking that it was in perfect sync with the film. Also, I am in great shape right now and because of that a bikini doesn’t scare me any more. Like in Dhoom:2, I was petrified about wearing a bikini because I wasn’t that fit. I spent sleepless nights before doing that shot in Dhoom:2!

 

Did you have to push yourself to get bikini-fit for Players?

Fortunately, fitness is a passion for me. Wearing that bikini required some specialised training in the gym… it required a special diet and it required that I keep away from mishti! (Laughs). I don’t have any other vice but mishti.

Have you set any limits to the kind of boldness that you will portray on screen?

Everyone has set a comfort zone, a Lakshman rekha beyond which they don’t really want to go. I have certain inhibitions… things that bother me. Like kissing is such an intimate moment and emotion and I am not comfortable doing it on screen. It really gives me the jitters because it is just too personal. Lovemaking is still okay, because the way we show it in our films is very technical. Do a little necking here and a little necking there and it’s over. But a liplock with a strange person on screen is very tough for me. It really scares me.

 

After Players, you get straight into Raaz 3 opposite Emraan Hashmi the serial kisser!

I don’t think we should single out Emraan Hashmi because nowadays, every film has a kiss. Even without all the kissing, he’s a great actor who has pulled a lot of solo hits at the box office. I am sure he is a great kisser also since he has kissed so many women (laughs). But I don’t want to think about it right now and get jittery. We will see when the time comes (laughs).

How do you look back at your 10 years in Bollywood?

I didn’t even realise when these 10 years flew by. I am still excited about going to work and meeting new people. As for regrets, I suffer from memory loss. I had a memory of three years and now it’s become three months (laughs). I don’t look back much.

 

Will a Bengali film happen again after Shob Charitro Kalponik?

Well, I want to do another film here, but I am very clear about the fact that at this stage, I will not go around scouting for roles. If someone thinks that I suit a role and is keen to have me on board, they are always welcome to approach me.

 

You have recently said that you want to get married to a younger and fitter version of R. Madhavan! Now where did that come from?

(Laughs) I keep asking Maddy, “Tera koi bhai hai kya?” (Laughs). Why is there only one Madhavan and that too someone who doesn’t like to go to the gym and is also married? Maddy is the ideal man for me. He is a great actor, a wonderful husband and father… very charming, very caring and very impressive overall. He is such an all-rounder. I tell Sarita (Madhavan’s wife) that she is so lucky! But I won’t give up looking for another Madhavan and hopefully I will find him soon.

 

Do you think that people find it difficult to accept that a 30-plus woman can be happily single?

I don’t think it happens in Bengali households, thank god for that! I am very lucky to have been born in the Basu family with liberal parents. I am an actress but I have cousins who are in their 30s and are not married and there is no pressure on them at all. The only thing that our parents want is for us to be happy and stand on our own feet and be responsible individuals.

 

Have you set a mental date for marriage?

No! I have been told that when it’s time, a bell will ring in my head! But nothing is ringing right now (laughs). I am not against marriage, but I just can’t marry anyone. I have to find a guy first!