Ayesha Takia

You have moved into the big league with four big-banner films — No Smoking with John Abraham, Wanted with Salman Khan, Tasveer with Akshay Kumar, and Sunday with Ajay Devgan...

I’m very happy that I have started getting performance- oriented roles. It’s all because of (Nagesh Kukunoor’s) Dor.

The promos of No Smoking are out. What’s the film all about?

The film is about smoking, as the title suggests. It’s a wacky film — intriguing and interesting. It will be unfair if I reveal too much. It belongs to a genre that Indian audiences have not seen before. You can obviously expect something extraordinary from Anurag Kashyap.

You have worked largely with mainstream film-makers, so how easy was it to work with Anurag Kashyap?

Anurag is a great friend. I have known him since the time I did Socha Na Tha. We always wanted to work together. This is completely John’s film, but he told me “You have to be a part of it”. I said: “Yeah anytime.” I would do any film that he asks me to do.

Anurag is making No Smoking but he himself is a chain smoker! Isn’t that strange?

It is. There used to be signs everywhere on our sets that read “No Smoking” because that’s the title of the film. It would seem as if one was not allowed to smoke but everyone on the sets smoked, even the assistants. So it was quite funny.

How was your interaction with John?

He is a lovely person and a very hard-working actor.

Are there songs in the movie?

There is one jazz sort of song. We don’t have songs to which we dance. It has a background score and some English music.

You are a self-professed fan of Sridevi. Was she instrumental in getting you Boney Kapoor’s Wanted, a remake of the South Indian hit Pokhiri?

I’m a huge Sridevi fan but she has got nothing to do with me being in the film. Boneyji thought I suited the role and showed me the trial of Pokhiri . When he asked me if I would like to be part of it, I said I would love it. Prabhu Deva is directing a Hindi film (Wanted) for the first time. We have already shot one schedule in Hyderabad .

Are you taking any references for your role from the original?

Not at all! Since it is being now made to suit Hindi cinema, it’s being made differently.

Is Tasveer Nagesh’s Rakhi gift to you? (Laughs) That’s not true. Who gifts a film? By sheer coincidence he had offered me the film around Rakhi. It’s a fabulous script. I’m really looking forward to it because Nagesh has never attempted sci-fi before.

Will Rohit Shetty’s Sunday be as funny as his Golmaal?

The film is a potpourri of songs, romance comedy, thrills. Ajay Devgan has done some excellent action sequences.

You would have had one more major film if you had not opted out of the Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini. Was kissing the reason behind not doing the film?

There was no such thing in that film. It’s a lovely film. Asin, who is doing the film now, is a lovely girl. She will do very well in the film. The production house and I didn’t want to work together for our own reasons which I don’t want to discuss.

Do you regret quitting the film? I don’t regret anything in life. I really hope their film is a superhit.

Of all the films that you are doing, which has the most challenging role?

All my films are very exciting. But yes, I can say that Sunday is my first commercial film where I have a performance-oriented role. It’s very interesting.

All the four films that you have signed sound like commercial films by offbeat directors. Would you like to do a film like Dor again?

Of course I’d love to. Because I think Dor gave me the respect as an actress that I enjoy today. I think it’s very important for actors to balance their careers — do four-five commercial films but also act in at least one film which is performance-oriented. People from all age groups have come up to me and discussed Dor. If you work with the right kind of director on such a subject, it can’t go wrong.

But commercial success still seems to elude you...

No one can predict the fate of the films. When I signed Dor, people said it was a big mistake but it really paid off the most.

Finally, are you happy with the kind of work you are getting?

It’s great to be doing satisfying films. But I am very happy even if I’m not doing films because I think it’s important to find happiness in your personal life. My family and friends are always supportive. So, I’ll always be happy.

You had put on lots of weight in the past few films...

Yeah, I had put on weight but in Dor I didn’t really need to be slim.