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Image courtesy: Subi Samuel
The nuisance didn’t end at the airport. Many people targeted Minissha and alleged that the detention brouhaha was just a PR spin-off planted by the actress herself. “Frankly speaking, if I had to plan a publicity stunt it’d be something like this: Brad Pitt meets me on a flight, we totally hit it off and by the time we land, he’s ready to divorce Angelina Jolie for me.”
Smart girl!
Not long back, Minissha was also under the scanner for going under the knife. Some tabloids even carried her before and after ‘breast enhancement’ pictures. She is unfazed by all the accusations, “I don’t really care about what people say but it’s ridiculous. People put on weight, lose weight and they start looking different. You can’t accuse people of going under the knife just because they look different. Everyone looks different over a period of time.” Point noted.
I ask her why she hasn’t clarified anything in print. With a poker face, she replies, “If someone stands up and speaks out in the media accusing me of something false, I’m not gonna justify, clarify or give counter interviews. I refuse to let my life get derailed in justifying some stupid people’s figment of imagination. Actors are always subjected to such accusations — of going under the knife, of being in a relationship with someone when they’re not, of throwing tantrums or being mean and nasty. It’s easier to believe actors are people with loose morals who live life callously. But the fact is that actors are put through the maximum amount of pain and hurt. You have to defend each and every action of yours.”
Flops films, controversies and accusations behind her, Minnisha is really looking forward to her 2012 movies. She has two big films lined up – Shirish Kunder’s Joker with Akshay Kumar and Zilla Ghaziabad with Sanjay Dutt. As I mentionJoker, her face lights up. With a wide grin she says, “I am damn excited and kicked about Joker. I play a journalist. And I loved playing the part because journalism was my first preferred profession.”
Sussing my amused look, she explains, “I was about to become a reporter and suddenly movies happened. I am glad the change happened because movies are where I am meant to be.”
When every other actress in tinsel town is being linked to some actor or the other, Minissha has remained ‘unattached’. And that too for a long time. No affairs, no rumours, no break-ups, is her life really that uninteresting? She turns coy and says. “I am a very good girl. Just like a little angel.” Good girl or a good cover up? She laughs. And she laughs a little more. “Thank God we don’t have a paparazzi culture in our country. We can live our life peacefully. You have a lot of privacy. But honestly, there have been no affairs.” I tell her that I find her answer as unconvincing as reports of snow in Mumbai. She shrugs and admits, “There have been one or two relationships but they were anything but serious. I used to be someone for whom being in love, being in a perfect relationship and finding the perfect guy was important. I guess I’ve grown up now. I’ve realised that there are more important things in life. Love is only one of the important things but while it’s not there, it’s not a priority I seek. So, no love relationship for me now.”
Our industry is filled with good looking boys and eligible bachelors. So is there anyone who fits the bill? She asks me to help her with some names. I start my list — Ranbir, Imran, Shahid, John, Ranveer… “Ranveer Singh,” she picks up in a sporting manner. She has more to say on the Band Baaja Baaraat actor. “Ranveer’s damn hot, there’s a fun element attached to him. Given a chance, I won’t mind going out on a date with him.” Now that we are talking all things fun and frolic, I ask if she ever gets to act in a film based on lesbians, which Hindi film actress she’d love to sizzle up the screen with. Pat comes the reply, “Katrina Kaif. I’d love to romance her. She’s like an angel. I’m not friends with her. And thank God, otherwise this would have sounded so creepy.”
Image courtesy: Subi Samuel
At the risk of getting my head lopped off, I admit I’ve read more of her in the colour supplements of newspapers, attending social soirees than I’ve seen her on screen shenanigans. My bad, because she was actually part of ensemble films like Bachna Ae Haseeno and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. She has got good reviews for her turns inWell Done Abba and Yahaan. She also made news for her derring-do in a bikini opposite Imran Khan in a film which will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
More recently, she toplined the egregious Hum Tum Shabana and the middling Bheja Fry 2. She also made news when she was detained at the airport for reportedly carrying undeclared jewellery worth Rs 50 Lakh. That’s the lowdown on her hi-jinks. Right now, I’m in her well-appointed living room. “Finally, we are meeting!” she exclaims.
As she shoots the breeze, I realise a sharp, active mind lies behind that pretty face. Unfortunately, her career for the last six years has been stuck in no man’s land. She sallies, “Sheer mismanagement is one of the reasons. I’m an outsider. I didn’t know the nuances of working in the industry. I didn’t know who to meet, whom to be friends with. I consider myself God’s own child. My survival here has been Ram bharose. I’ve always believed that my work should speak and that’s the way I still want it to be. Yes, success has been slow but work has been steady. Whatever I have achieved has been solely on merit.”
While other actors make the most of being a part of big banner films, Minissha is made of different mettle. In retrospective mode, she says, “I wasn’t street-smart to capitalise on Bachna Ae Haseeno, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. and Kidnap. My aim was to just do good work and move on. But you learn from your mistakes. I understand the game better now thanks to my mistakes.”
Everyone who has seen Hum Tum Shabana has unanimously praised Minissha’s performance. But it has also been whispered that her role has been chopped. As if that wasn’t enough, there were stories floating in the media about debutante Pia Trivedi getting more screen space in the film due to her closeness with the director. Sagar Ballary even spoke to the press about Minissha’s insecurity. I try playing devil’s advocate and probe. A hurt Minissha confides, “It was unexpected. I’m deeply saddened. It’s sad considering I have done two films with Sagar. After all that we’ve shared, he goes and speaks like this about me. I feel betrayed. I feel hurt. Having said that, I don’t think I need to go out there and prove that I’m not insecure. It’s retarded to even think that because the entire film revolves around me. I play the title character.”
Her rendezvous with the who’s who of Hollywood at the Cannes red carpet is something she’ll always treasure. Minissha says, “It was simply fabulous. I don’t have any agents working abroad lining up these festivals for me. It’s just my fate which took me to Cannes. But the one thing I realised at Cannes is that our public events are as good and rocking as theirs. The only difference, the journalists out there wear tuxedos. Make our journos wear tuxedos and we will be as good as Cannes.”
The Cannes party didn’t really have a happy ending. She was detained at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, for allegedly carrying undeclared jewellery worth close to Rs 50 lakh. Recalling the detention drama, she says, “It was traumatic. I was detained for 16 hours. I was taken aback because I was held for an issue which I thought was very small. I understand the bureaucracy and all that jazz but the detention was unexpected. The detention procedure is quite troublesome. Gruelling paper work, dumb questions, questions for entrapment… phew! I was smart enough to maintain my cool because the moment you freak out or say something nasty, they can book you for some offence or the other.”
As she shoots the breeze, I realise a sharp, active mind lies behind that pretty face. Unfortunately, her career for the last six years has been stuck in no man’s land. She sallies, “Sheer mismanagement is one of the reasons. I’m an outsider. I didn’t know the nuances of working in the industry. I didn’t know who to meet, whom to be friends with. I consider myself God’s own child. My survival here has been Ram bharose. I’ve always believed that my work should speak and that’s the way I still want it to be. Yes, success has been slow but work has been steady. Whatever I have achieved has been solely on merit.”
While other actors make the most of being a part of big banner films, Minissha is made of different mettle. In retrospective mode, she says, “I wasn’t street-smart to capitalise on Bachna Ae Haseeno, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. and Kidnap. My aim was to just do good work and move on. But you learn from your mistakes. I understand the game better now thanks to my mistakes.”
Everyone who has seen Hum Tum Shabana has unanimously praised Minissha’s performance. But it has also been whispered that her role has been chopped. As if that wasn’t enough, there were stories floating in the media about debutante Pia Trivedi getting more screen space in the film due to her closeness with the director. Sagar Ballary even spoke to the press about Minissha’s insecurity. I try playing devil’s advocate and probe. A hurt Minissha confides, “It was unexpected. I’m deeply saddened. It’s sad considering I have done two films with Sagar. After all that we’ve shared, he goes and speaks like this about me. I feel betrayed. I feel hurt. Having said that, I don’t think I need to go out there and prove that I’m not insecure. It’s retarded to even think that because the entire film revolves around me. I play the title character.”
Her rendezvous with the who’s who of Hollywood at the Cannes red carpet is something she’ll always treasure. Minissha says, “It was simply fabulous. I don’t have any agents working abroad lining up these festivals for me. It’s just my fate which took me to Cannes. But the one thing I realised at Cannes is that our public events are as good and rocking as theirs. The only difference, the journalists out there wear tuxedos. Make our journos wear tuxedos and we will be as good as Cannes.”
The Cannes party didn’t really have a happy ending. She was detained at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, for allegedly carrying undeclared jewellery worth close to Rs 50 lakh. Recalling the detention drama, she says, “It was traumatic. I was detained for 16 hours. I was taken aback because I was held for an issue which I thought was very small. I understand the bureaucracy and all that jazz but the detention was unexpected. The detention procedure is quite troublesome. Gruelling paper work, dumb questions, questions for entrapment… phew! I was smart enough to maintain my cool because the moment you freak out or say something nasty, they can book you for some offence or the other.”
The nuisance didn’t end at the airport. Many people targeted Minissha and alleged that the detention brouhaha was just a PR spin-off planted by the actress herself. “Frankly speaking, if I had to plan a publicity stunt it’d be something like this: Brad Pitt meets me on a flight, we totally hit it off and by the time we land, he’s ready to divorce Angelina Jolie for me.”
Smart girl!
Not long back, Minissha was also under the scanner for going under the knife. Some tabloids even carried her before and after ‘breast enhancement’ pictures. She is unfazed by all the accusations, “I don’t really care about what people say but it’s ridiculous. People put on weight, lose weight and they start looking different. You can’t accuse people of going under the knife just because they look different. Everyone looks different over a period of time.” Point noted.
I ask her why she hasn’t clarified anything in print. With a poker face, she replies, “If someone stands up and speaks out in the media accusing me of something false, I’m not gonna justify, clarify or give counter interviews. I refuse to let my life get derailed in justifying some stupid people’s figment of imagination. Actors are always subjected to such accusations — of going under the knife, of being in a relationship with someone when they’re not, of throwing tantrums or being mean and nasty. It’s easier to believe actors are people with loose morals who live life callously. But the fact is that actors are put through the maximum amount of pain and hurt. You have to defend each and every action of yours.”
Flops films, controversies and accusations behind her, Minnisha is really looking forward to her 2012 movies. She has two big films lined up – Shirish Kunder’s Joker with Akshay Kumar and Zilla Ghaziabad with Sanjay Dutt. As I mentionJoker, her face lights up. With a wide grin she says, “I am damn excited and kicked about Joker. I play a journalist. And I loved playing the part because journalism was my first preferred profession.”
Sussing my amused look, she explains, “I was about to become a reporter and suddenly movies happened. I am glad the change happened because movies are where I am meant to be.”
When every other actress in tinsel town is being linked to some actor or the other, Minissha has remained ‘unattached’. And that too for a long time. No affairs, no rumours, no break-ups, is her life really that uninteresting? She turns coy and says. “I am a very good girl. Just like a little angel.” Good girl or a good cover up? She laughs. And she laughs a little more. “Thank God we don’t have a paparazzi culture in our country. We can live our life peacefully. You have a lot of privacy. But honestly, there have been no affairs.” I tell her that I find her answer as unconvincing as reports of snow in Mumbai. She shrugs and admits, “There have been one or two relationships but they were anything but serious. I used to be someone for whom being in love, being in a perfect relationship and finding the perfect guy was important. I guess I’ve grown up now. I’ve realised that there are more important things in life. Love is only one of the important things but while it’s not there, it’s not a priority I seek. So, no love relationship for me now.”
Our industry is filled with good looking boys and eligible bachelors. So is there anyone who fits the bill? She asks me to help her with some names. I start my list — Ranbir, Imran, Shahid, John, Ranveer… “Ranveer Singh,” she picks up in a sporting manner. She has more to say on the Band Baaja Baaraat actor. “Ranveer’s damn hot, there’s a fun element attached to him. Given a chance, I won’t mind going out on a date with him.” Now that we are talking all things fun and frolic, I ask if she ever gets to act in a film based on lesbians, which Hindi film actress she’d love to sizzle up the screen with. Pat comes the reply, “Katrina Kaif. I’d love to romance her. She’s like an angel. I’m not friends with her. And thank God, otherwise this would have sounded so creepy.”
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