Sushmita Sen with daughter Rene

n After a cameo in Bewafaa, your next big release is Main Aisa Hi Hoon is ready for release in April?

In Main Aisa Hi Hoon, for the first time I am playing a lawyer and a mother, who neglects her child. It?s not the typical good-mother role as seen in a Hindi film. The film is an Indian adaptation of the Hollywood film I Am Sam and I honestly feel I have a better role than Michelle Pfeiffer who played my character in the original.

n What was it like playing a neglectful mother?

That is very, very unlike my real self. I just broke out on the first couple of horrid scenes I had to do with my screen son. I told myself: ?That?s a mean mother!? (Director) Harry Baweja told me: ?That?s the idea.? I think films like this are very good for me as an actor.

n It must have been easier on the sets of David Dhawan?s Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya?

All the old memories came back because it?s my third film with David Dhawan and also my third film with Salman Khan. Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya is, again, an adaptation of an old English film and play called Cactus Flowers. And here, I play none other than Ingrid Bergman.

n When you are a part of such an adaptation do you watch the original before shooting?

It is entirely the director?s call. Sometimes I watch the adaptation. Sometimes I don?t. Like for the English/Bengali remake of Astitva, Mahesh Manjrekar was very particular ? he asked me not to see the original as he thought I may end up playing Tabu. He wanted the new film(s) to be completely different. So I would go with an open mind on the sets.

n When will the film be ready and when will we get to see Sushmita Sen in a Bengali film?

There are four days of work left. There are some problems with the financiers. I hope that gets solved quickly. It Happened One Night/Shei Brishtir Raate is really special to me because it was the first time I appeared in a Bengali film. And let me tell you, I have spoken very authentic Bengali in the film, (more) than we speak at home.

n You have also shot for Kalpana Lajmi?s Chingari?

And I am very excited about it. I am pretty shameless when it comes to my own films and Chingari is one of my finest performances till date. Be it the way I looked in the film, or the way I have spoken Bihari. It?s also for the first time I play a prostitute. It has been a very emotionally exhausting film. Both Ma Kali and Ma Durga are in it and I am a big follower of both. While you can see a cosmopolitan Sushmita in Main Aisa Hi Hoon, it?s all raw glamour in my character of Basanti in Chingari.

n You got hurt pretty badly during the Chingari shooting in Satara. What exactly happened?

I was crossing a river for a shot and I hurt my toe. When I looked at the toe, I saw it was bleeding profusely. The doctors told me that area can?t be stitched. We had to give hydrogen peroxide and all to stop the bleeding. It was pretty bad.

It?s so ironical, just 15 minutes before that river shot, I was telling a friend that there are Ma Kali?s temples both at the back and in the front. There had also been an immersion at that time in that river. So everything was there except blood sacrifice. And then that happened. It was really a raw experience.

n You make it a point to slip in an item number once in a while like in Kisna?

I am not doing one at the moment. I did it in Kisna because I wanted to not say no to Saroj Khan. She wanted me to try kathak in the film. I asked Subhashji: ?Are you sure? This is no Mast mahaul?? But he said to go for it since I was Sarojji?s choice.

n What is Tanuja Chandra?s Runway all about?

I will be shooting all of April and May for the film in Bhuj. This film too is very close to my heart because it is based on a real person named Resham who was very courageous and won the bravery award. The film is set in the times of the 1971 war and at the time of the Emergency that followed. It has a very simple narrative that is easy to follow.

n For every David Dhawan, there?s a Kalpana Lajmi. For every Harry Baweja, there?s a Tanuja Chandra. You are balancing it beautifully?

I am trying to merge all this. I really don?t understand these different names and possibilities of films. Cinema has genres in it. At the end of the day my job is to entertain.

n How clued in are you about Bengali films?

I watched Chokher Bali and I really think Rituparno Ghosh is amazing. I also know about Buddhadeb Dasgupta making a film with Sameera Reddy. The information about Bengali films with Bollywood names comes to Mumbai. I am also aware of a certain Shei Brishtir Raate? (laughs).

n What is your take on this whole phenomenon of Indian actresses trying to cross over to the West?

My take is: sit pretty and stay at home. The need of the hour is to let the world look up to you. There are many parts of the world where Hollywood films lack the big percentage of audiences. For example in the Middle East, you take the name of Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan, the people there will die ? they love them so much. Now, if you have a film with both Tom Cruise and Shah Rukh Khan, that will be a real universal film.

I can understand that people are keen to work in the West. But I?m in no hurry to cross over anywhere. I am ready to wait for the day when they will cross over and come to me and I?ll look at my dates and say I am busy. (Laughs). It really doesn?t excite me to jump and do a film with them. I am excited about doing a film which can do well in the West. I am really excited for a film like Lagaan which makes me feel proud as an Indian.