Udita Goswami with Emraan Hashmi in Zeher, and (left) in moments from Paap

n The industry people are calling Zeher a hit. What according to you worked for the film?

Yes, Zeher?s doing very well here in Mumbai and people are calling the film the first blockbuster of the year. Because I have had a flop earlier ? Paap at the end of the day was a flop ? I know exactly what made Zeher click. First of all the story was very good. As an audience, when I saw Paap, I found it to be very slow but with Zeher, you want to know what?s happening next. It?s the gripping quality that made Zeher work.

n What about the sex quotient used in the promos and posters of the film?

See, the director and producer were very sure of their product. Now Zeher did not have the kind of star cast that a film like Tango Charlie had. Everyone attached to the film was new. So they used the sex thing to create hype around the film, to make the audiences come to the halls. They always knew, once the audiences came to the theatres they would love the film.

n So you had no problem with your bare back being used as a promotional tool to get the audiences in?

Of course, I was upset with the producers for trying to use me like that in the promotions. That bare back shot splashed all over is not even there in the film. Since there?s a surprise element in the film about my character, I am not even allowed to speak about my role to the media. At the press meets, they would promote the film as a husband-wife relationship gone wrong and me as the sex element in the film, as the next hot thing. But I made it very clear to everyone that Zeher is not a sex flick. Otherwise I wouldn?t be doing it after having waited all this while since Paap to do a film.

n Why did you wait?

I just wasn?t getting good roles. There were lots of offers for multi-starrers but in a multi-starrer, the credit always goes to the director and the heroes. I also didn?t want to do the so-called bold films. I haven?t ever done such a music video when I was a model. I didn?t even say yes to item numbers. I have always believed that you want to know more about a woman only when there is a mystery around her. If you keep seeing her everywhere you wouldn?t be interested in her anymore. That?s why I don?t even go to parties... In the last couple of years I have turned down so many big producers and directors. I have to be convinced to agree to do a film. I have to be very careful in my choice. I am not a star daughter. I don?t even have a godfather in the industry.

n But people identify you with Mahesh Bhatt and the Bhatt camp?

That?s because both my films have been produced by them. But I have shot for two other films in the middle which will get released only after June. One is Amar Joshi Shaheed Ho Gaya with Suniel Shetty, Om Puri and Rajpal Yadav. And the other is Kisse Pyar Karu with Arshad Warsi and Ashish Chaudhury. In fact I had initially turned down Zeher because the dates were clashing but finally things got sorted out. I am not into a clan thing ? I don?t belong to any group. I don?t go for these family meetings.

n Did you have a fight with the Bhatts over the size of your role?

The story was narrated to me in a different way but it turned out to be something else. I am speaking in terms of length. Even the songs, which were to be picturised on me, were deleted. Had I got the real picture beforehand I wouldn?t have done Zeher. I am just not there in the second half. Having worked with the Bhatts earlier I had trusted them. But I guess I learnt a lesson.

n Did your roaring affair with director Mohit Suri complicate matters?

I don?t know why people have been talking about this affair so much. I know it sounds very spicy to cook up something between the director and the actress but trust me, I do not want to go into all this. He is 23 and I just turned 22. So we gelled well on the sets. I was also very close to all the assistant directors on the sets but the media didn?t write about that since they didn?t know their names.

n So you do not wish to be Bollywood?s new seductress, as you are being hailed?

See, I started out with Paap because I wanted people to take me seriously. Now I am open to all sorts of roles and in fact enjoy doing the song-and-dance routine. I am okay with people calling me the next hot thing and all, but not this sex thing. I know there will not be a Zeher part two. I am too good to be projected like that. Few articles have been very upsetting but I can?t even blame the media since the producers promoted that image of mine.

n What?s next from Udita Goswami?

I am taking it very slow. At the moment I am excited to walk the ramp again after a year or so for a fashion designer friend in the Lakme Fashion Week. Not as a model though, but as an actress.