20 Years of Paap EXCLUSIVE: Udita Goswami reveals that she was supposed to wear a robe for her underwater scene: “I started drowning as it was quite heavy. Wearing lingerie was a last-minute thing”

By Fenil Seta -

February 12, 2024 - 5:00 PM IST

The breathtakingly shot action thriller Paap (2004), completed 20 years on January 30. It marked the debut of Udita Goswami and her entry shot featured her swimming underwater. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama for Paap’s 20th anniversary, the actress narrated an interesting anecdote about it and a lot more.

20 Years of Paap EXCLUSIVE: Udita Goswami reveals that she was supposed to wear a robe for her underwater scene: “I started drowning as it was quite heavy. Wearing lingerie was a last-minute thing”

Udita Goswami said, “That is also another story. I was supposed to wear a beautiful robe, a mermaid kind, with a really long trail. I dived into the water and I almost started drowning because the trail was quite heavy. Hence, wearing lingerie in the water was never a part of the scene at all. It was a last-minute thing.”

Udita further revealed, “Pooja (director Pooja Bhatt) told me that they were stuck and the team from abroad had come, especially to shoot the underwater scene. She asked me if I was comfortable shooting in lingerie, they’d go ahead with the shoot; or else, the scene wouldn’t be shot at all. I was a model. It didn’t make much of a difference to me to shoot in lingerie. I knew that even if I wore just a bra and panty, it wouldn't hit you in the eye; I was not a big person as such.”

The lovemaking scenes, between Udita Goswami and the male lead John Abraham, were shot in an aesthetic manner. Compared to the intimate scenes then, it stood out as probably a female director was shooting it. Udita agreed, “The lovemaking scenes were excellent. Later, when I did Zeher (2005) and other films, I realized how well it was done in Paap. It looked so classy, without showing any skin. It was shot in such a way that you want them to do it (make love).”

When prodded why her voice was dubbed, Udita Goswami replied, “I don’t know. My voice was dubbed for many more films after Paap. Maybe because I was not much of an actor. I have no shame in saying that as well. And it’s fine. Everyone is not meant to get into acting. I don’t know why everyone makes such a hue and cry when I say it. I love how Twinkle Khanna also says that she feels embarrassed when she sees herself on screen. I feel the same many times, not with Paap though. But when I see some of my films, I go ‘Ewww. I look so cringe’! Now, I see so many shows and am very much aware of cinema. I wish I had begun acting now and not 20 years back or the present-day me was acting way back in 2004. Then, I would have been a different person altogether. At that time, I was too raw and just going with the flow.”

Paap’s strongest recall factor is its soulful and unforgettable music. Udita said, “Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was introduced in India with ‘Mann Ki Lagan’. Even today, wherever I go for functions, the song is played! Moreover, as a DJ, I have experienced that there’s a generational shift now. College kids might not know my films but they know my songs. It says a lot about the music in films then.”

She continued, “As a DJ, I don’t like to play my own songs. But the amount of requests I keep getting for my songs (is surprising). I end up playing ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Ja’. That’s all I do. Yet, people keep requesting for other songs from Aksar (2006), ‘Agar Tum Mil Jao’ from Zeher and also from Paap.”

Coming back to Paap’s release, when asked if she remembers what the reviews were for the film and her performance, Udita Goswami confessed, “I didn’t even know what the reviews were at that time as I was so innocent and naïve. I really wish I knew. I was even giving such stupid interviews. A top journalist came to interview me. I told her, ‘You are going to ask these questions right?’ and I rattled off a list of questions. I also added ‘I gave the same answer to 20 other people’. For 5 minutes, she just kept looking at me in awe and shock! The journalists had to start asking me different questions as they could see how bored I was saying the same thing. All this was so new to me. I was like ‘Ek hi baar puch lo saare questions. Everyone can take answers from it’. That was my thinking.”

The writer remarked that it’s worse now for actors as the number of interviewers has increased since Paap’s release. Udita Goswami signed off as she said, “I know. One of the reasons I don’t want to be an actor is because the questions are so vague. You can’t start asking about politics. Ask questions that are relevant. If someone is not able to talk about it, people will start trolling the actor, calling him/her dumb. It’s too harsh right now. How can anyone know everything?”

Also Read: 20 Years of Paap EXCLUSIVE: “The money I was offered for Paap was the same that I would have earned for 3-4 days of shoot as a model. I was like, ‘Really? This is how less actors are paid?’” – Udita Goswami