A tete-a-tete with Koena Mitra

By: Reshma Kelkar, IndiaFM
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Koena Mitra kicked off with RGV's Road and just after her seductive 'Saaki Saaki' number in Musafir she became the favorite choice of some big filmmakers of Bollywood. Showman Subhash Ghai has signed this bong bombshell for his next two movies. Her forthcoming film Apna Sapna Money Money will be her next release after EKEH. Koena aims for big directors and big banners and now speaks to IndiaFM about her forthcoming films and stardom.

About Apna Sapna Money Money
I play a Catholic girl. She is pop singer and a close friend of Shreyas Talpade. She wants to help him to get his lady love but whenever she tries to help him she creates problem for him. This is a comic character and the actual fun is that she doesn't have to act funny to create humor. It's in her character or may be in the script that whenever she opens her mouth people start laughing. I did not have to try much to create comedy rather there was so much in my charter that made my work so easy. I enjoyed working with everyone. Riteish's comedy timing is very good. He is a friend and a great co star. He has an amazing role in the film. He is playing four characters in the film and each character is different. Rajpal Yadav has an interesting role in the film. He plays chote sarkar and tries to act like Amitabh Bachchan. There was cut-throat competition between Ritesh and Anupam Kher as they both are masters of comedy.

Subhash Ghai didn't like my introduction scene
Subhash Ghai is a great advisor. He is a perfectionist and makes his movies larger than life. This is my first movie with Mukta Arts. He liked my work and signed me for his next two projects. Though he is producer for ASMM, he looks at every work in detail. He will not approve any kind of compromise regarding his film. He saw my introduction scene and he didn't like it. Subhash Ghai's heroines always had special entries and my entry was unlike his other heroines. Subsequently, he made Santosh Sivan to rework on my introduction. He gave a nice thought to him and redesigned my entry with a song. I always take professional advice from him and he has helped me to make correct choices.

No regrets
I am not scared of any kind of competition; rather there is no competition at all. There are no regrets for not doing films like Zeher, Tom Dick and Harry and Aksar. I don't want to make wrong career move as I started off with a big film, big banner and big stars and I want to maintain the same platform for my films. I don't want to make mistakes by doing small movies. I would like to work with big banners and good directors. I denied many small budget movies meanwhile and I don't regret for not having any release after Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena. I had signed Apna Sapna Monet Money when I was shooting for EKEH. I have two more Subhash Ghai's films and one with PNC.

On stardom
I don't think there is any competition in Bollywood now days. Hero rules in our movies. There are very few filmmakers, who think of an actress to make their movies. Every filmmaker makes their wish list and they choose according to actress's dates and remuneration. Gone are the days when roles were written for the actresses like Madhuri and Sridevi. I don't think so there are any other actresses who have enjoyed the superstardom except Madhuri and Sridevi.

Anamika is a romantic thriller
My role in forthcoming Anamika made me sign the film. I had denied Anant Mahadevan's Aksar and when I signed his next movie everyone was amazed. I feel my character has lots of potential and it will definitely stand out, so I decided to go for it. Anamika is a romantic suspense thriller and the story revolves around Dino Morea, Minissha Lamba and me.

Supportive parents
My parents do watch my movies. My mother visits my place quite often and spends time with me. Sometimes she accompanies me to the shoot or premieres of my movies. I will be always the same Koena for my parents. My parents were never infatuated by any Bollywood personalities or the actors I worked with. They love to be in their own world. My father is a quite person and he doesn't talk about my work. My father's family is very educated and cultured but never encouraged me. Most of them used to make unkind remarks on my parents. But my parents were always a great support for me. My nanny is 80 years old and it never bothered her to see me in swimming costume. While my sister loves the fact that her sister is an actress and she makes me answer all her friend's letters and calls.

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