"I am not playing a very typical conventional Catholic girl like you usually see in films where they have a typical accent when they speak Hindi" - Amrita Rao 
By IndiaFM News Bureau, March 16, 2007 - 11:22 IST
They say marriages spoil an actress’ career in Bollywood. But it has done just the opposite for Amrita Rao. Post Vivah, Amrita Rao is going
through the best phase of her career with as many as three major projects in her hands. Of course we are talking of her onscreen marriage
(Vivah)!
Currently working on the T-Series film My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves, Amrita also has signed UTV’s Hook and Crook and Anil Kapoor’s
Shortcut. The sugar-candy girl gets candid in an exclusive conversation with IndiaFM.
So how’s life after Vivah, your onscreen marriage i.e.
Well it couldn’t be better. Vivah was a very important and special film. Its success will always be very important to me because it was a big film and
a huge responsibility. Its one of the most sensitive films made by Sooraj Barjatya. I’m so glad that the film has done so well and is still running in the
theatres.
You have been called M.F Hussain’s muse
M.F Hussain has made our country proud. He is a fantastic artist. I just feel so immensely proud that he chooses me out of Bollywood that too after Madhuri,
to be immortalised on his canvas. It came to me as a sudden big surprise and you know when sometimes a big surprise hits you out of the blue it takes time to
settle.
I remember a very senior journalist broke this news to me because Hussain saab had called him and declared to him that now Amrita Rao has entered my
canvas. He had also faxed him a sketch of mine. When this journalist called me and broke the news I couldn’t believe it.
Then of course Hussain saab invited me and my mother to Dubai and he did this painting of me. When I saw myself being sketched and painted that was
the time the excitement started fizzing out of me and I couldn’t control myself, I was just hitting the roof. Till then it hadn’t settled down. But once the
genius in him started painting me and I saw the colour in the painting, it couldn’t have been more wonderful for me.
| When I saw myself being sketched and painted that was the time the excitement started
fizzing out of me and I couldn’t control myself, I was just hitting the roof. |
Today all actors are trying to experiment with the de-glam look. Would you be interested?
Well I have no reservations doing a de-glam look as long as it is appropriate for the situation. In fact I have done that at the very beginning of my career
in The Legend of Bhagat Singh where I played a girl from a village. It being a period film there was no glamour involved. Then I did it in 2005 in a
movie called Shikhar directed by John Matthew where I play an orphan from the ashram. So I have done such roles in the past and if such a requirement
arises in the future I am absolutely open to it.
| Well I have no reservations doing a de-glam look as long as it is appropriate for the
situation |
You have come a long way since Ab Ke Baras. How much do you think have you grown as an actress?
I haven’t really had any formal training in acting or dancing. For me cinema was something I was fascinated by, something I loved doing. When I was not in
the movies I used to watch a film and see other actress perform. I always used to feel maybe even I can do it. For me everyday of work is like practical
training. I am learning with different characters and situations. It just helps me discover my range and sometimes surprise myself.
| When I was not in the movies I used to watch a film and see other actress perform. I
always used to feel maybe even I can do it |
There was buzz that you are assisting on some film
No, I am not working as an assistant director but I am playing the role of an assistant director in a film. The film is called My Name is Anthony
Gonsalves directed by E.Niwas.
In the movie I play the character of a Catholic girl called Rhea who works as an assistant director for a film. For me it was something very different after
leaving behind a role of a small town girl Poonam from Madhupur (Vivah) because now I get the opportunity to play the contemporary girl from Bombay who is in
the showbiz. Being an assistant director she has to conduct auditions, she has a lot of responsibilities – just like an assistant director would be in real
life. I have seen assistant directors work so hard and run around the whole day on the sets. They have to always be very alert. It’s a very serious job. Most
assistant directors want to be directors eventually and so for them it’s like a learning ground. You see that excitement, that enthusiasm in them. It’s like
school for them.
Any plans of directing a movie anytime soon in real life?
Well right now I am very happy acting. In fact I have a lot more to prove and a long way to go. Acting keeps changing with different characters, situations
and scenes it’s very challenging. Direction is something which I would leave for somebody who is more carved out for it.
| Anthony’s role is more street-smart kind of a role, Rhea is more
refined |
So will Rhea depict all the lineaments of a Catholic Girl?
See, Rhea is not a very typical conventional Catholic girl like you usually see in films where Catholics have a typical accent when they speak Hindi. The
male lead of Anthony Gonsalves played by Nikhil Dwivedi is more street-smart kind of a role, Rhea is more refined. It is a very sweet bubbly role, she is a
girl who has a mind of her own, but is petrified of her director Miss Barucha in the movie played by Lilette Dubey. It’s a very fascinating situation and its
very cute film.
| I am not playing a very typical conventional Catholic girl like you usually see in
films where they have a typical accent when they speak Hindi. |
How did your association with E.Niwas happen?
I first got to know about E Niwas through the movie Shool which got him a National Award. Then I saw his film Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega that again
was a very sweet film. I remember I thought to myself that it would be wonderful to work with him. That one thought, one wish was granted and two years later
I landed in his film. He saw me and wanted me to play Rhea and I was more than honoured.
There were rumours of a linkup between you and this newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi paired opposite you in the film.
Oh, that is all crap. As you said, it is all rumours.
So what is your equation with Nikhil?
We share a nice rapport. He is very smart guy, he not only knows a lot about acting but is a very well aware and informed person on various other subjects as
well.
Nikhil is a very talented actor. At the moment he is completely into the role of Anthony.
What I like about ‘newcomers’, (well, even I was a newcomer one day), is that their whole approach is different. They are so full of energy, they just want
to put in their best shot. I just hope that I am being a good support to Nikhil; I try my best to encourage him.
Any tips you gave him as an actor?
Well I just told him what Shah Rukh Khan had told me when I worked with him in Main Hoon Na. He told me never loose your focus no matter what. There
can be so many distractions on the set, there are SMS’s, phone calls, so many things, above all there can be situations while shooting which you cannot
relate to, but until and unless you are not focused you cannot deliver. And that is so true, which is something I realised and experienced in all these years
of acting. I told the same thing to Nikhil and I am sure one day he will realise what it means.
| Shah Rukh Khan told me never loose your focus no matter what |
You did a special appearance in a song for Sajid Khan’s Hey Baby. This would be the first time that you will be doing a cameo in a song
Sajid Khan and Farah are very close to me. I have always been Sajid’s big fan; I used to watch all his countdown programs on TV. I got the opportunity of
interacting with him after Farah signed me for Main Hoon Na and I know him now since a few years.
So when he was making Hey Baby, he told me that he wanted all the actresses who are close to him to do a 30sec jig in the song, Farah was directing
the song. Ritesh and Farden are in the song too, so I got to do a jig with both of them and it was a lot of fun.
And then you have Hook Ya Crook directed by David Dhawan?
I am very excited about the film. Siddharth is with me in the film. He is huge star in the south and in Bollywood you must have seen him in Rang De
Basanti. He is a very talented actor; the industry is already talking about him. Hook Ya Crook has a fantastic script, it’s a tailor made role for
both of us. We might start shooting for it in the midst of this year.
|
Amrita passes on the SRK 'mantra' to a newcomer
