All your films showcase you as a sexy siren. Aren’t you tired of the image?

Of course I am. But I’m not stupid. I first need to establish myself in the industry. I can’t say that I’m tired even before establishing myself. And I will establish myself this year when people will see me in several films. People remember me as Tanya from Pyar Ke Side/Effects and I think people would like to see me in that kind of a role in some more movies. I know what my strong points are; I know what my image is. If I start playing this cute girl next door, people will start shouting from the rooftops: “We want to see Sophie for what she is famous for.” But at the same time, I want roles where I can emote and act.

Is that a difficult proposition?

In our country, there is this misconception that if you are hot and glamourous, you can’t cry. It is like glamour and crying don’t go hand in hand. But that is utter nonsense. If you see me in real life, I’m a big cry baby, my family calls me Tragedy Queen!

Which are your future films?

I’m doing an item number in Kidnap with Sanjay Gadhvi. Who can say no to the director of Dhoom and especially if you get a chance to be in the same frame as Sanju (Sanjay Dutt)? I’m also doing Alibaug and I really respect Sanjay Gupta for thinking of me for the role. It is a completely non-glamourous role.

I have Indra Kumar’s Daddy Cool. I’m doing Freeze and Bobby Bedi’s next with Rishi Kapoor. It’s a complete high to share screen space with Rishiji. In Money Hai Toh Honey Hai, I have another special appearance, which I agreed to do for two reasons — one because producer Kumar Mangat had offered me Sunday which I couldn’t do and the other is Govinda! I was nuts about him, I think he was the coolest guy ever.

How did you get into Bollywood?

While I was juggling singing and being a VJ, I got a call from David Dhawan’s office and I went to meet him. He offered me Shaadi No 1. That is how Bollywood happened.

Do you think it is difficult for a VJ to become an actress?

Yes, I think so. According to me it is virtually impossible. VJs come with a lot of baggage. I have seen a lot of producers opting for a newcomer over a VJ because VJs have an image — bahut angrezi bolte hain, bahut bak bak karte hain.

But you have had a fairly smooth journey from being a VJ in England to Indipop singer to actress...

People don’t know the struggle I went through; they just feel that I have done things back to back. The biggest challenge in my life was to leave UK where I was one of the most happening VJs and start from scratch in Mumbai. My debut in India was with my girl band Sansara — we did a video with Biddu called Yeh dil sun raha hai in 2000. The song did very well but like all girl bands, we didn’t last for long. I went back to the UK, from where I did another single. I returned to Mumbai with my mom. Those were the days of struggle. I had a contract with Universal and I remember sitting five hours in their office doing nothing. They didn’t know what to do with me — one day they would say I was the new Nazia Hassan, the next day I was the new Salma Agha and the third day they didn’t know what to think of me.

It was disheartening because I had left everything for this! Then MTV gave me a job. Being an MTV VJ made me really popular and helped me connect with the youth. I immediately went on their Loveline show and filled in Malaika’s spot. It was the first time they were seeing a girl from London who spoke great English and even better Hindi. Someone who is funky, who is sophisticated, who is sexy.

How did Indipop come your way?

I always wanted to work in music. I got a record deal with T-series. We did two remix albums together — the first was Babu chhail chhabila. To be very honest, these remixes were not out of choice. The only thing that was working at that time was remix. I had the biggest of names backing me for those projects, like Bhushan Kumar, Radhika and Vinay Sapru, who had just made the Kaanta laga video. Then Ek pardesi happened and it was 10 levels above Babu chhail chhabila.

Finally, you are coming out with an original album. That must feel good...

If you are an artiste and if you are even remotely creative, you will go for original music. I don’t think that I could get a bigger hit than Ek pardesi... So I shifted to originals. It took me years to compile the album. Music is all about matching wavelengths, which I have matched on the album with Bappa Lahiri and Gaurav Dasgupta.