You feel most beautiful when...

Yami Gautam: My mom says so. She is somebody who tells me not to bother about looking beautiful. So, when she says I look beautiful, it matters.

Chitrangda Singh: I feel beautiful after a workout, when I am really sweaty and my face is kind of blushing and red. And sometimes when you wake up with make-up from last night, maybe then I like it.

How many times have you been told that you’re beautiful?

Yami: (Laughs) That’s a very rapid compliment! And I love that! No, honestly, I am really not trying to give you a beautiful answer... I love, I respect it. We all love to be admired and given compliments but I don’t really keep track.

Chitrangda: (Laughs out loud) Every time is special... seriously... and especially when women say that to me, I take it more seriously. It is not like more women have said this to me than men (laughs) but it means a lot more when women say it because they don’t compliment easily. Men just don’t know what to say so they say, “You are beautiful”.

Who was the last person you said, ‘You’re beautiful’ to?

Yami: My younger sister. I think you need to love giving compliments as much as you love receiving them.

Chitrangda: I think she was a journalist and we were doing promotions for my song Kaafirana. She was very Bengali-looking actually. You know I love their skin colour, they have beautiful eyes and they always have kohl and there is something very Indian and intense about them.

Who comes to your mind when we say, ‘Beautiful Stranger’?

Yami: Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada! She was very beautiful and she is a stranger to me!

Chitrangda: Strangely, I think of something very filmi or dramatic. I would think of a situation of being in a lift with someone for only 20 seconds and then the person gets off... (thinks) I remember I was on a flight to Chandigarh and there was this man sitting at the back... he wasn’t an Indian... I think he was probably Israeli or something... and he was reading Time magazine throughout... we got talking when we were at the baggage claim. He was a Time magazine journalist... there was something interesting (about him). He wasn’t the most good-looking man... I am actually talking about this for the first time to anyone... but I am thinking of him now!

Who, acccordingly to you, is Bollywood’s most beautiful?

Yami: I think Kareena Kapoor is gorgeous. She is effortless. I have never seen her go overboard with her make-up or the way she dresses. Even off-screen or when travelling, she looks gorgeous. From the yesteryear actresses, I would pick Waheedaji (Rehman), Nafisa Ali, Sarika...

Chitrangda: Rekhaji would be the most beautiful person for me. Just the way she has conducted herself, lived her life and made her choices is bizarre by a lot of standards. She is so sure of who she is, which amazes me! It takes a lot of guts to live the way you want to live.

Who are the most beautiful people in your life?

Yami: My mother. I am just a reflection of her to all those who compliment me. The most beautiful words by her are, “You are still the same as you were when you were in Chandigarh... you are still the little girl I raised”... And also my sister!

Chitrangda: My son Zoravar, 5. Then there is of, course, my mother... my grandmom who is no more and I miss her. Also, my best friend. I think beautiful is also the way people make you feel.

Sexy or beautiful... what do you prefer being called?

Yami: Beautiful, any day.

Chitrangda: Beautiful! Always. Because I’d be looking at someone beautiful a lot longer than sexy.

How many times have you been called sexy?

Yami: I don’t think anyone calls me that to my face! I think it is just your attitude yaar... it’s not the clothes...

Chitrangda: I do hear a lot of ‘hot’!

You feel sexy...

Yami: After a good workout.

Chitrangda: When somebody looks at me in a certain way. Also, when I dance — you’re really in the element and you become that person who does the seduction and everything. I am learning a bit of semi-classical dance and Kathak. These are just to keep your body movements correct and it helps your body language. I enjoy it very much.

You go ‘sexy’ when you see...

Yami: There is this dress my sister picked up for me... she called it very sexy... so, then that becomes sexy for me automatically! (Laughs)

Chitrangda: Bronzed bodies! (Laughs out loud) Women, men... anybody... the colour bronze... that just does for me...

The sexiest man alive is...

Yami: Ben Affleck.

Chitrangda: Brad Pitt. And, more so now because of the way he is leading his life. He’s got his kids, he’s produced films, he’s taking chances with different kinds of films... he’s doing so much more. Closer home? Salman Khan. It has a lot to do with the kind of work he is doing... the goodwill he has among people... so, I wouldn’t call him sexy, but a beautiful person. He gave the Paralympians money when they came back. It is an acknowledgement of their achievement in some way. It means that he cares and is not just obsessed with himself.

The sexiest woman alive is...

Yami: Meryl Streep.

Chitrangda: Rekhaji. She is very enigmatic, which is again about the way she has led her life... mysterious... there is an aura about her.

What do you find sexy in a man?

Yami: His attitude and by that I mean the desirable factor. I don’t mean that he has to be arrogant, but some mystery has to be there.

Chitrangda: His confidence. Not over-confidence, which is ugly and not under-confidence, which is not nice. He could be sitting in a corner in a room full of people and just looking confident and happy being himself.

And in a woman?

Yami: Even if she knows she is good-looking, it shouldn’t show in her attitude.

Chitrangda: A little mystery about her... there is more to her than just wearing a short dress... when there is a certain amount of grace and kindness and generosity....

Who is Bollywood’s sexiest?

Yami: Looks-wise, most have explored that dimension in them... Katrina (Kaif), Kareena (Kapoor), Priyanka (Chopra), Deepika (Padukone)... they all look sexy, (but my favourite) is Priyanka Chopra.

Chitrangda: Arjun Rampal! How can I forget? I have just done a film with him... he is the sexiest man... Katrina (Kaif) is very easy without trying too hard.

Finally, what’s on your bucket list?

Yami: I would love to go to Ladakh — there are beautiful monasteries there and because I am from Himachal. I would love to go to Paris. I haven’t been to New York which I have heard a lot about. And, I would love to go to Kanyakumari. I think that would be interesting! And then Hawaii (laughs).

Chitrangda: I have skydived, jumped off 40,000ft, but I have never ever been able to bungee jump. I came close to doing it and I couldn’t. I don’t trust ropes much... it is kind of scary... (laughs). I’d also love to go scuba-diving in Egypt. I paint a little, I do charcoals and stuff, but what I would love to is splash buckets of paint on a huge canvas... as big as the size of the wall of your room. What else is on my bucket list? Maybe, just have ice creams for a day! And still walk the ramp at night!