The tag line said 'Woman on Top'. The picture showed a woman in a white see-through kurta. This was Hrishitaa Bhatt in the promos of Jigyaasa (2006). It's 2007 and there's another Bhatt film waiting to hit the marquee. Lara. The promos are out. The pic shows her in a slit-to-the-thigh long skirt. The tag line reads, "Seduction is her only weapon". Whatever happened to the old Hrishitaa Bhatt? Pretty, conventional and ready to toe the "I'm a good girl" line.

Despite making her debut as a shy Buddhist girl in Asoka (2001) and doing reasonably well in her other films like Shararat, Dil Vil Pyar Vyar, Charas, Jawani Diwani, Out of Control and Ankahee, this tall, slender and attractive girl got lost in a sea of sexy, wearing less clothes girls.

Is she planning to remodel herself on the lines of the other sexy gals like Celina Jaitley or a Tanushree Dutta? Or is this seductress once in-a-while look? We spoke to Hrishitaa at her well styled apartment, and over steaming hot café she spoke about her latest makeover.

What's with this seductress look you have this year in your new film Lara?
First of all, it's a revenge story with all the regular masalas that you see in other commercial films. It's a woman oriented role. I have never wanted this sweet girl image, I got them because of the roles I did in my earlier films. As an actor I would like to do the villain's role, the heroine's and exciting roles in films.

Are you making an attempt to join the girls like Celina or a Tanushree as a sexy siren?
I can't control the taglines to the names of my films. I never got a glamorous or a sexy role in my films. I am a versatile actress and I should be capable of doing all types of roles. When I used to model for Prahlad Kakkad's ads, he used to tell me that I should do sexy and glamorous roles as I had the figure for it and that my face would never look vulgar. I am not joining any group and I have no idea what other heroines are doing, I am going to play roles that give me an opportunity to show my talent.

Would you say that Jigyasa showcased your talent perfectly?
I did the film in faith and I knew what I had to do. I am not embarrassed, but I will not repeat the same mistakes again. Even the biggest of stars have made mistakes in the beginning if their careers, but they are not repeated again.

So it means Jigyaasa was a mistake? What about Lara?
At that time it was a right decision. As you grow older and with little maturity, you understand yourself as a person and can see things in a different perspective. Since Lara hasn't been released I cannot say anything about it.

What other films are you working on?
I have just done a Bengali film. It's produced and directed by Raja, Rani Mukherjee's brother. It's called Bidhatar Lekha, it has Jeet a sweet young guy as the hero, he's supposed to be the SRK of Kolkatta and Priyanshu Chatterjee is the villain. Raja wanted a Bollywood heroine, he had signed someone else it didn't work out, he gave me a call and asked if I would do a this film. Since I speak Bengali very well and Bengali cinema is good, I did the film. I am doing my own dubbing.

If being sexy and glamorous gives that push to her career, then Hrishitaa Bhatt is ready to reach for the skies.

Chandrika Bhattacharya

Monday, 29 January, 2007