Maverick Miss! 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, November 29, 2005 - 23:01 IST
'You don't wanna mess with her' she tells you that with just a look.
Antara Mali cuts a sight.
Slouching on a gaddi, her hair is pulled into a careless bun. The outfit isn't designer, nor is her attitude. Antara is casual, easy but sure. After Ramu's dance drama, she is back with a rib tickling comedy, Mr Ya Miss. We met up with the feisty actor and she spoke…
…whatever she thought we needed to know.
Naach was 2003, where have you been all this while? “Making Mr Ya Miss, what else?” she retorts. Skeptics think that it's a little too nascent for you to plunge into direction when your acting career is still taking baby steps. Could it be a wrong career move? “I don't give a rat's a**!” Antara volleys back. And you know that she isn't here to feed you sugar syrup.
So what is Mr Ya Miss all about? “It's a comedy where I play Sanjay, Aftab's character. He dies and is sent back in the form of woman and that woman happens to be me! So you see I don't have a role, per se. And before you ask, let me tell you that his might be a cameo but I don't think there is anybody else who could have played his role. There is a natural charm, charisma and likeability about Aftab which is tough to replace. That's the reason I wanted him and only him!”
What about Riteish, her Naach co-star? “I wrote the character with him in mind. As you sketch characters, you know the face that matches it. In this case it just had to be Riteish. And I believe that Riteish is a lot like the character in the film” she replies. And we note that this was the first off-the-bat reply that we got, minus the sarcasm.
All's not lost, we thought to ourself.
Isn't the film a copy of Hot Chick? we ask “Yes, it is but don't we remake Hollywood flicks all the time? Let's say this time around, I have copied them well!” she throws a cheeky one. And what was it like juggling balls in the air, writing, directing and acting? “Exhausting but then it was also very fulfilling! Cinema is a creative expression and I loved wetting my hands”
Any insights that you developed while playing the role? “Not really. But what I did learn is that filmmaking is a profession where you can't afford the luxury of making mistakes because there is a lot of money riding on you” she comes clean.
“You cannot land up on the sets one morning and say 'I don't know what we are to shoot today'. You got to have a plan and stick to it. But I also understand that since its atleast a 100 people we interact with daily, there are bound to be goofs. That's where your contingency plan comes to rescue” she explains.
If she were to be trapped in the body of a guy, what is the wildest thing she would have done? “Well, I don't know why but I have this urge to punch people. So I am sure I would have knocked a few hard ones for sure!” she laughs.
On or off, what's her equation with Ramu? “I would not like to comment on that!”
We should have known, happiness is short lived.
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Antra’s new role
