“I love performing live so I understand that there will be instances where I am going to be mobbed. I am not regretting it at all” - Rakhi Sawant 
By Faridoon Shahryar, April 13, 2006 - 06:08 IST
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“Money means everything to me,” says item girl Rakhi Sawant who was recently seen-n-heard in Priyadarshan's hit comedy Malamaal Weekly. And she is willing to go to any distance to make sure that she makes 'hay while the sun shines'. She will be seen next in an item song aptly titled 'Paisa Khuda Hai' in her brother Rakesh Sawant's controversial film Hot Money where the dress worn by her is made up of 2000 one rupee coins. The dazzling dress is a two-piece skimpy outfit designed by none other than her brother himself.
“I am just doing this song for my brother's film. I would have wanted to act in it as well, but I guess I would feel awkward before my brother. But as for the song, then I am sure it will create ripples in the industry,” she says.
Creating ripples comes naturally to this babe. Be it her pop videos like Mujhe Budhdha Mil Gaya or Pardesiya or her censor-unfriendly sequence in Deepak Tijori's Khamosh where she bared her back while taking a bath, Sawant is unfazed with the controversies clinging on to her like a honeybee.
“I am happy being an item girl as I find nothing wrong in it. I am also doing lots of movies where I play second leads, negative characters and character roles. Of course I shall be seen in many item songs as well. When I have what others lack, then why shouldn't I make the most of it! I like all my songs, although the censor people are not comfortable with what I do. But I just don't care.”
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I love performing live so I understand that there will be instances where I am going to be mobbed. I guess that's part of being famous but I am not regretting it at all.
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It hasn't been an easy ride for her. Every step of the way, her moves are being watched closely. With the sting operation by a leading news channel alleging that Rakhi Sawant is a high profile escort to her decision to stop performing in Dubai where she was pawed at during a stage show by the organiser's friends, she remains upbeat and confident. So, what is it that keeps her going?
“My Mom is my biggest supporter and then my God….My Ganpati…revered Ganesh ji gives me strength to keep going on. I love performing live so I understand that there will be instances where I am going to be mobbed. I guess that's part of being famous but I am not regretting it at all. I am very hungry to do as much good work as possible,” says the tempestuous skin-show girl.
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I don't think I am lesser than any heroine in the looks department, so why should I feel any less than them. In fact, it is the big heroines who are insecure about my performance in their films.
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There was a time when Helen, Kalpana Iyer, Padma Narayan and even Aruna Irani used to do the sensuous cabaret numbers while actresses like Rakhee, Jaya Bahaduri and Hema Malini sang the dancing numbers around the trees and on the mountains. But that definition has changed now. For at many an occasion, the heroines like Urmila Matondkar, Priyanka Chopra, Koena Mitra and Antara Mali to name a few do the sexy numbers themselves, leaving little scope for any lesser actress to make the item numbers as an exclusive genre. So, what is it about Rakhi Sawant that everyone from Farah Khan, Priyadarshan, Inder Kumar, Deepak Tijori and Mahesh Manjrekar want her in their movies?
“I guess, I am very hard working and what I do I do with a lot of conviction and self belief. Maybe that makes me stand out. I work very hard on my body. I eat frugally and carefully. Maybe that's why I have a body to die for. I love dancing and I don't think I am lesser than any heroine in the looks department, so why should I feel any less than them. In fact, it is the big heroines who are insecure about my performance in their films,” she says.
So, does she have any role models? “No…I am my own role model. Except God, there's no one before whom I feel like bending.” And what is it that she would like to be remembered as? “I don't know…Never really thought about that….I guess they'll remember me as an item girl…What else.”
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Rakhi’s Hollywood connection…
