Isha Koppikar may have done seven films till date. But she is still referred to as the Khallas girl. Not that she has issues about it. But she wants to make sure that people don’t turn a blind eye towards her histrionics in films like the controversial Girlfriend or comic Ek Se Badhkar Ek either. Currently though, she is eagerly awaiting audience’s reactions about her performance in Pankaj Parashar’s Inteqaam, where she brushes shoulders with the unconventional looking Manoj Bajpai and glamorous Nethra Raghuraman. 

Not many know that Isha’s first film has never released. The film called Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan was to release in 1997. That was the time she fell in love with her hero Inder Kumar. The relationship was aborted so was the film… and it took her three years more before she made her debut in Hindi films with small role in Khalid Mohamed’s Fiza as the friend of Karisma Kapoor.

But now it’s time for revenge…

How did you manage your time between Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan and your first release Fiza?
Actually, I was working in the south. I debuted with the film Kadhal Kavidhai. It was a big hit and I won the best newcomer award from Filmfare for the performance. I went on to do around 15 films more there.

This time you’ve landed with a meaty role… looks like you will finally break away from the Khallas girl image…
Khallas is something I am proud of, because it brought me fame much faster. I really have no problem with the Khallas girl tag. But if you are referring to item numbers, that’s something I didn’t do either in Krishna Cottage or Girlfriend or even in Ek Se Badhkar Ek. I’ve had meaty roles in all of them. And I don’t think there’s anything to look down upon if you break into song and dance in the middle of a film. Songs are important. After all the promos of any film begin with its songs.

You portray quite an intellectual character in Inteqaam…
You could say that. I play a famous writer called Avantika Suryavanshi, who churns out one bestseller after another. The story is about how she meets this cop (Manoj Bajpai) and a psycho- analyst (Nethra Raghuraman), following which there is a series of murders. And then it’s more of a whodunit psychological thriller.   

We did see a really stylised author considering that it’s a Pankaj Parashar film?
Certainly. In fact that’s one of the prime reasons why I took up the film. It’s a heroine-oriented script and every tiny detail of the character has been etched out. I have seen Pankaj’s Jawla and Chaalbaaz some umpteen times. The way he perceives a subject is so unique. Even in Inteqaam, look at the characters and you know they can belong only to Pankaj Parashar. The movement of every character would have been very different, had someone else directed the film.

You have a real foot-tapping number in the film. The idea of a writer doing a jig in a murder mystery doesn’t quite sink in…
If you choose to look at it that way, it will sound absurd. I also agree that a thriller doesn’t need songs. But songs here are not complete per se. They are situational. Two songs have been picturised on me. The foot-tapping number that you spoke of has been choreographed by Saroj Khan and will create a rage in discotheques. Another is a holi song, which again carries the story forward.

Manoj Bajpai has always been a serious actor. Seducing him must have been a difficult job…
Seducing? I think Nethra does that in the film. I keep tricking him all the time. It’s more of an intelligent chase game happening between us. And Manoj is a terrific actor. Working with such performers encourages you to do a better job. He helped me a lot in improving upon dialogue delivery, voice modulation, facial expressions… I learnt so much from him that I started calling him Guruji on the sets!

The film has been inspired from Basic Instinct…
The way I look at it, every story is similar to some other. Mahabharat has been the biggest epic, from which lakhs of smaller stories have been inspired. But that doesn’t mean all the stories are a copy of Mahabharat. That way, even this story is not similar to Basic Instinct. There was a writer and a series of murders in Basic Instinct… they are an integral part of Inteqaam too. I guess the similarity ends there. Obviously we haven’t taken any special effort to copy Basic Instinct, because a film with Hollywood sensibilities won’t work in India. Never go for a Bollywood film with the desire of watching a Hollywood one.

Even if Indian sensibilities are different, we see Bollywood films becoming bolder, which is again inspired by Hollywood… Inteqaam too has a couple of bold scenes…
What is wrong in portraying sex scenes if the script so demands? Keeping sex a taboo word doesn’t help today. By the way, Inteqaam doesn’t have Sharon Stone’s famous crossing uncrossing legs scene from Basic Instinct. Again not all Bollywood films have skin show. If you have a Murder, there is also a Pinjar. And both were acclaimed by their target audience.

What do you think of actresses indulging in skin show as a shortcut to fame? You too are referred to as a sex symbol…
Skin show may make you famous faster. But it depends on what route you want to take. I firmly believe, there is space for everyone in the industry. I probably may never do the kind of roles Mallika Sherawat does. Still I am called a sex symbol and I take it as a complement. If I’ve done an item number in one film, my acting in others has also been noticed. People know that I can act.

So when do the audiences get to see you in a totally de-glamorised role?
They saw me in such a role in Pinjar. My character in Hansal Mehta’s Humrahee too is deglamorised. I essay this extremely down-to-earth innocent girl and I hardly wear any make-up in a major portion of the film.

What do we expect from you in the near future?
I have films like Kya Kool Hain Hum followed by Humrahi. Then I have films like Raakh which is again an interesting film with Hansal Mehta as is Humrahi. Both of them have Aamir Ali with me. Kya Kool Hain Hum is a mad film about mistaken identities. There is so much confusion in the film which makes for great fun. Tusshar, Ritesh Deshmukh and Neha will be my co-stars. Sangeeth Sivan is directing the film.

Written by Qamar