Kareena Kapoor at Taj Bengal. Picture: Rashbehari Das

My trips to Calcutta are always so hectic that I can never make time to go around the city. I so wanted to visit Saif’s favourite place here, the Tollygunge Club,” smiled Kareena Kapoor as t2 sat down for a chat in the Oriental Room at Taj Bengal on Monday evening.

In town on a whirlwind trip to promote her Friday film Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, Mrs Saif Ali Khan chatted about films, family and being Kareena.

Pssst: Guess the three Bengali words Kareena, the foodie, has learnt after becoming Sharmila Tagore’s daughter-in-law? “Machher jhol, mishti doi and (pauses) aloo posto!”

You’ve said in the past how you love shooting films but detest the process of promoting and marketing them. Has that changed?

No! I am just not at all a big fan of this whole promotion business. It just gets too strenuous. Honestly, I don’t understand why we need to market a film so much. When I came in, promotions used to happen, but not on this scale. Yet, films used to do well. If your film is good, people will anyway watch it; if it isn’t, then no matter how much you market it, no one will come for it.

Gori Tere Pyaar Mein comes across as this fun love story. What is it about the film that hooked you?

Well, I really liked the fact that this is a very sweet romantic comedy… the kind that you have in Hollywood. The kind of films that Meg Ryan would do. Throughout my career, I have been associated with a lot of romance and comedy. Jab We Met will always figure as a major film in my career and that was a romantic comedy. I have also done a lot of serious and intense films, but I haven’t done something like Gori Tere Pyaar Mein which is fun and frothy and yet comes with a message and has its serious moments. It’s the kind of film that you can watch over a tub of popcorn and yet you will think long about it even after you leave the movie hall.

You had said that there was a lot of Kareena in Geet from Jab We Met. How much of Kareena do we get to see in Dia of Gori Tere Pyaar Mein?

Dia is a social activist who is a girl of today and she feels strongly about a lot of issues. She’s very socially inclined and will probably be the first one to start off a protest if she believes strongly about it. In real life, I may not actively voice my support for issues, but I do feel strongly about issues that plague our country like anti-corruption and women’s rights. Also, Dia is very much in love with Imran’s character (Sriram) and even for me, love makes the world go round (smiles).

How has it been reuniting with Imran after Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu. That was a platonic love story, but do we see sparks fly between you two in this film?

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu was a special film that showed that a Bollywood heroine didn’t really have to end up with the hero… she could say ‘no’ if she wanted to (smiles). I think that film changed a lot of perceptions. But in Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, we have gone with what the conventional audience likes… the hero and heroine end up together. I think Imran and I work well together as a pair. In this film, there is nothing erotic or very passionate and yet you can feel the chemistry between us. Even Saif thinks that Imran and I look good together (smiles).

Imran and you are good friends off screen. How much does a sense of comfort with your co-star dictate your choice of films?

I generally don’t like signing films just on the basis of who my co-actor is. It’s always dictated by how much I want to be a part of it. Of course, it does help when you have an already formed equation with your co-star because you don’t have to spend time breaking the ice and you are kind of familiar with what he will be like. But for this film, my choice was dictated entirely by the script, especially by the second half when the action shifts completely to a village set-up. It’s something I have never done before.

You’ve worked with a lot of directors. What does a Punit Malhotra, in his second film, bring in that maybe a Prakash Jha, who you just worked with in Satyagraha, doesn’t?

The freshness, I think. Yes, you are right when you say that I have worked with many first-timers, whether it was Shakun (Batra, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu), Rensil D’Silva (Kurbaan).... I have worked with experienced directors like Raju Hirani (3 Idiots) and Imtiaz (Ali, Jab We Met), but at the same time, I have worked with new ones. They bring in newness in terms of ideas and are always willing to experiment. I am not saying that the experienced directors don’t, but the new ones are a little more enthusiastic, I guess (smiles).

Saif’s Bullett Raja releases the Friday after your film. Are you two getting to see each other at all?

(Laughs) Right now, we are getting to see very little of each other. We are in different cities all the time. But we live together and that’s the best part, because we both have to go home at some point (laughs out loud). But honestly, I make it a point to take out time for Saif and he does too. We love travelling and visiting new places and right after our films release, we are off on vacation. I won’t work for a month after this and I will spend it all travelling. It’s a very integral part of who I am… this urge to visit new places.

You celebrated a year of marriage last month. Is marriage all that you hoped it would be?

Yes… and more (smiles). But honestly, marriage is just a tag. At the end of the day, it’s all about two people loving each other enough to want to spend their lives together. Nothing else matters. For me, love is what makes marriage work and it’s made mine work (smiles).

Work wise, you’ve been as active after marriage as you were before. But how do people in the industry now perceive you… for example, do only a certain kind of roles come your way?

Honestly, I really don’t get it... this whole thing of married actresses (shrugs). I am very unconventional and modern in my outlook and people have learnt to treat me that way. Being in love, living in or getting married isn’t a crime, come on! (Laughs) I think the industry has far greater things on its mind than being worried about whether I am married or not! (Smiles) As far as people’s perception about my saleability or whatever is concerned, I have just been as busy, thank god and I have been getting fabulous offers. Acting is in my DNA, it’s something that my family and I have done for generations. No one can take that away from me.

Finally, when do we get to see you and cousin Ranbir together on screen?

(Smiles) I really don’t know. It has to be a film that both of us are excited about and ticks a lot of boxes. Ranbir is very talented and I am sure an opportunity will present itself sometime in future. Of course, the choices are really narrowed down because we can’t play each other’s love interest! (Smiles).

Priyanka Roy
Do you agree with Kareena that only love can make a marriage work? Tell t2@abp.in