Sexy siren
BOLLYWOOD actress Kareena Kapoor says her latest film left her cold, literally.
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (One Me And One You, in Hindi) involved 12-hours of overnight shoots in freezing Nevada as director Shakun Batra wanted to capture the bright lights of Las Vegas.
“It was exhausting,” the actress recalls over the telephone from Mumbai. “Acting is not really difficult for me because I enjoy doing it, but I prefer doing it in the warmth.”
The film is a romantic comedy about two people who marry on impulse and spend the next few weeks wondering what to do about it.
Kapoor, 31, plays quirky hairstylist Riana Braganza, who weds a staid boy-next-door type, played by Imran Khan. “She’s very positive, knows her mind, but she has this mad streak,” the actress says of her character.
“She knows what she wants out of life and that is nice. It’s a lovely character to play because it’s quite similar to the way I am.”
While she has received critical acclaim for playing characters from prostitutes ( Chameli, 2004) to unwilling stepmothers ( We Are Family, 2010), her latest role fits into a repetitive sequence of bubbly, romantic-comedy leads: In last year’s Bodyguard, opposite Salman Khan, she played a rich girl who woos and wins the heart of her stoic protector, while in last October’s
Ra.one, she was the chirpy foil to a geeky computer programmer played by Shah Rukh Khan.
However, she bristles at any suggestion that these roles are one note. “I play a very different character in every film. In Ra.one, I was mother to a nine-year-old child,” she says. “Most directors know that I can morph myself into different roles.”
In fact, for the 2008 Tashan (Passion), she literally ate and exercised her way to a size zero – “though I’m a little rounder now”, points out the strict vegetarian and yoga practitioner.
“I don’t think there’s anything in terms of acting that could be difficult for me. I was born to act, there is nothing else I know,” adds the scion of the wellknown Kapoor family.
Her great grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor, starred in silent films while grandfather Raj Kapoor made it to the Cannes Film Festival with films such as Awaara (The Tramp, 1951). Parents Randhir Kapoor and Babita are both actors, as is older sister Karishma, 38, who is planning a comeback film after a six-year sabbatical.
Kareena hopes for a chance to act with her sibling, whom she calls “an inspiration” but has no concrete offers yet.
She has two other major releases this year, Talaash (Search) opposite Aamir Khan, and Agent Vinod, with her long-time boyfriend Saif Ali Khan. – The Straits Times Singapore / Asia News Network