NEHA Dhupia, who once famously proclaimed that only sex and Shah Rukh Khan sell in Bollywood, is in awe of ‘King Khan’ and wants to do a romantic film with him. “Strangely, I haven’t done a romantic film yet and I am looking forward to doing one with Shah Rukh Khan. I don’t mind even if it is not a romantic film, but I want to work with SRK,” Dhupia says.
The 29-year-old actress, who is not happy being labelled as ‘sexy’, plays a seductress in her latest outing Raat Gayi Baat Gayi, a film about three married couples and a one night stand. Neha portrays the character of an aspiring actress Sophia, a femme fatale.
Directed by Saurabh Shukla, the film also stars Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey.
“I am still living up to my image and reputation of being sexy and mysterious and handling a bold subject in the film. But at the same time I am part of a script which is very interesting. I am doing things differently and I hope that the audience sees a fresher, newer and better Neha Dhupia,” she adds.
But the actress believes that her sexy image backfires as people don’t pay attention to her performance. “I am just tired of my image. Just because I am wearing a black backless dress does not mean I am not giving a good performance. People are so judgemental that they think a person who looks good can’t perform well and that’s not fair. Does that mean unless I wear loose anti-fit clothes people are not going to take me seriously?” Dhupia asks.
The film marks Dhupia’s fourth outing with actor Rajat Kapoor whom she earlier acted with in films like Mithya and Dasvadaniya . “It’s so wonderful to work with Rajat. He is a great actor and every time I learn something new from him and with Saurabh on the sets humour comes naturally. The film is a mix of dark thrill and entertainment and not many people know but Raat Gayi Baat Gayi bagged the Best screenplay award in popular category at the New York Film Festival.”
The former beauty queen was asked to throw a bag full of condoms and contraceptive pills during the Mood Indigo festival at IIT Mumbai as part of a marketing strategy but she was uncomfortable initially. “I was asked to throw around a goody bag which contained condoms and I was like, `No! I’m not throwing it`, but my producer told me that `You have to do it because it’s got everything to do with the film`,” Dhupia says.
However, the actress said she realised that the goody bag came with a strong message for the young generation to be more responsible in their lives.
Dhupia’s upcoming releases include Pappu Can’t Dance where she plays a Maharashtrian dancer opposite Vinay Pathak, Action Replay with Akshay Kumar and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and Raftaar with Emraan Hashmi. She is also hopeful that the audience will start appreciating her more for acting skills rather than her beauty.
“I don’t want people to judge me by the way I look. I have been in this industry for six years. I need to see growth and I see myself growing whether it’s Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local or Mithya. Why is it always about Neha being hot and sexy, that’s my question,” Dhupia adds.
