Jiah Khan speaks from her heart!
She's in a nothing-left-to- imagination sheer lacey outfit. Waiters at a club lounge aren't sure to what to make of us, ushering me with concealed smiles to a French glass-fronted table. Their glinting eyes convey...aha whatta dirty old guy. Take a hike fellas...Keeping my straight-as-an-arrow profile intact, I order our drinks... she has a lemon tea (boiling hot!), I succumb to my practiced poison vodkatini. Attempting to look quite the man of the world, I ask:
Is
Jiah
Khan
your
real
name?
No,
my
name's
Nafisa.
Jiah's
sexier.
I
got
it
from
the
Angelina
movie
Gia...
I
changed
it
a
bit
to
sound
more
exciting
as
it
Ji....aah.
Okay,
so
how
did
a
London
girl
get
here?
I'm
New
York-born,
brought
up
in
London.
Chelsea,
you
know.
I
was
wild
about
the
Bombay
movies.
As
a
kid
I'd
wear
salwaar
kameez
and
drive
my
teachers
mad
by
speaking
in
Hindi.
Then
I
hopped
back
to
New
York
to
study
acting
at
Lee
Strasberg.
I
quit
because
I
got
a
role
here.
They
said,
"Go!
You
have
a
life
membership
at
the
school
anyway." I
was
so
inspired
by
Rangeela.
You're
plugging
Ram
Gopal
Varma?
Seriously.
I
have
a
video
of
me
dancing
like
Urmila
(Matondkar)
with
my
two
younger
sisters...
We
have
different
fathers...
they're
as
beautiful
as
I
am,
if
not
more.
Great!
Who
is
your
father?
I
attach
very
little
importance
to
my
father.
He's
an
American
Indian
Muslim.
He
left
my
mother
when
I
was
three
months
old.
I
know
his
name
-
Ali
Rizvi
Khan
-
I
even
know
where
he
lives
in
New
York.
He
has
never
bothered
to
meet
me,
neither
have
I.
That would have hurt if he had left at an age when I even knew how l-i-f-e is spelt. I don't have any memory of what he looks like... but it does bother me that I still have his name on my passport.
You
never
wanted
to
meet
him
in
New
York?
The
thought
did
cross
my
mind...
when
I
was
a
bit
bored...
Is
this
Mr.
Ali
Rizvi
a
wealthy
man?
He'd
better
not
be.
Then
I'd
really
make
sure
that
he
gave
us
maintenance
money
because
he
didn't.
Look,
all
men
who
desert
their
daughters
should
be
shot.
From
what
I
know,
it
was
with
another
woman.
This
irritates
the
hell
out
of
me...
perhaps
if
I
was
a
boy
it
would
have
been
different.
I
would
have
missed
him,
we
girls
are
tougher.
What
about
your
sisters...
your
stepfather?
My
stepfather
deserted
us
too
in
London.
My
sisters
were
two
and
four
years
old,
I
was
seven.
He
took
every
penny
out
of
the
bank,
also
our
house.
We
were
homeless.
Mum
hopped
around
from
house
to
house...
subsisting
on
low
rents.
Before
this,
she'd
hosted
lavish
parties...
her
friends
vanished
into
thin
air.
We
lived
on
McDonald's
burgers...which
were
fun
for
us
kind...
but
how
long
could
this
go
on?
Why
don't
you
mention
your
mother's
name?
Rabia
Amin.
She
writes.
What?
Scripts
for
television
in
the
UK
and
concepts
for
BBC.
Didn't
she
act
in
Tahir
Hussain's
Dulha
Bikta
Hai?
Yes
and
in
Ankush,
Locket,
Vijay
Anand's
Hum
Rahe
Na
Hum
and
Subhash
Ghai'a
Meri
Jung
in
a
special
appearance
with
Anil
Kapoor.
She
had
longer
hair
than
mine
and
a
super
sexy
voice.
What
about
the
insistent
reports
that
you're
Tahir
Hussain's
daughter?
If
such
sick
stories
are
spread,
so
be
it.
Look,
my
mum
was
an
orphan.
She
was
a
Christian
girl
who
came
from
Agra
to
Bombay
to
act.
He
discovered
her
when
she
was
in
Dehra
Dun.
She
was
then
housed
with
Aamir's
family,
Aamir's
mother
Zeenat
aapa
taught
her
how
to
conduct
herself
as
an
actress
and
to
speak
in
Urdu.
Mum
converted
to
Islam.
Honestly,
I'm
not
related
by
blood
to
Tahir
Hussain's
family.
I'm
not
his
daughter.
Are
you
in
touch
with
Tahir
Hussain?
No.
Mum
meets
Zeenat
aapa
occasionally...
and
that's
it.
I've
never
even
met
Aamir.
Say
that
again.
I
have
never
met
Aamir.
I
don't
even
look
like
Aamir
Khan
remotely.
All
this
sounds
very
complicated.
Ha!
I
cannot
imagine
how
it
would
have
been
with
a
perfect
family
or
a
father.
If
he
had
dominated
me,
I
would
have
died
of
suffocation.
Who
are
these
men
anyway?
Okay,
so
maybe
I'm
a
bit
bitter.
Perhaps
this
happens
in
India
less
often.
In
London,
more
couples
get
divorced
and
live
separately.
It's
no
big
deal.
In
Bombay,
men
hit
on
girls
in
a
devious
way,
one
can't
fathom
what's
going
on
in
their
minds.
In
London,
they're
straight,
they'll
say,
"How
about
going
out
for
a
drink?" If
you
tell
them
to
take
a
hike,
that's
fine.
How
come
your
mum
encouraged
you
to
join
films
here?
She
didn't.
I
had
to
prove
that
I
could
make
it;
in
any
case
every
profession
can
be
manipulative.
I
was
in
Bombay
for
a
holiday...
I
just
walked
into
RGV's
office
wearing
the
sexiest
hot
pants
and
heels.
I
was
trembling
like
a
leaf.
Can
you
just
walk
into
a
filmmaker's
office?
You'd
be
surprised!
Could
you
walk
into
the
Yashraj
office?
I
wouldn't
but
I
could.
You're
avoiding
any
mention
of
Tumsa
Nahin
Dekha.
Please!
I
was
all
of
16.
Mahesh
Bhatt
had
seen
my
photographs.
I
did
a
screen
test,
I
shot
for
two
weeks
in
Dubai.
It
was
a
struggle;
the
character
was
far
too
mature.
Director
Anurag
Basu
and
Mr.
Bhatt
could
see
I
wanted
to
opt
out...
It
would
have
been
a
wrong
first
film.
There
was
much
hassle
over
a
swimming
pool
scene.
I
had
to
wear
a
swimsuit
for
a
song
sequence.
All
kinds
of
remarks
were
being
passed,
I
was
totally
confused...
crying
inside
while
trying
to
emote.
Today,
I
can
handle
that
-
I
would
slap
those
guys.
An
under-age
girl
couldn't.
In
Nishabd,
it
seems
that
you're
extremely
agro...
Nope.
I
did
far
more
daring
stuff
in
Tumsa
Nahin
Dekha,
200
per
cent.
What
if
with
your
wet
look,
you
end
up
becoming
the
sex
symbol
of
2007?
That
would
be
weird.
I
just
want
to
entertain...
I
could
even
become
the
Kiss
Girl...
have
you
seen
the
promo
in
which
I
kiss
Mr.
Amitabh
Bachchan
on
the
cheek?
That's
so
cool...
so
sweet
and
innocent.
Are
you?
Without
a
doubt.
I've
had
loads
of
crushes
though,
I
was
mad
about
a
Chinese
boy
when
I
was
a
kid...
last
year
there
was
a
student
in
New
York
whom
I
dated,
which
never
went
beyond
the
teenybopper
stuff.
What
did
RGV
expect
from
you?
To
be
like
a
kitten...
he
pushed
me
always
to
get
the
effect
he
wanted.
Just
like
Nisha
Kothari?
I'm
just
going
to
laugh
at
what
you've
just
said.
Let
me
come
full
circle
in
this
interview.
Do
your
mother
and
you
ever
meet
Tahir
Hussain?
Sure
on
occasions
my
mum
does,
like
for
lunch
on
Eid.
Could
they
ever
have
been
in
love?
No
way.
See,
today
he's
80,
she's
40.
How
would
you
describe
Amitabh
Bachchan?
Mesmerizing.
And
yet
there's
as
much
of
an
age
difference.
That's
because
there's
a
difference
between
cinema
and
real
life.
In
fact,
it's
strange
that
I'm
a
girl
in
love
with
a
man
old
enough
to
be
my
father
in
my
first
film.
Maybe
RGV
saw
the
buried
emotion
about
my
father...
it's
written
on
my
face
for
those
who
can
see
it.
What
would
you
say
if
your
real
life
father
said,
"I'm
sorry
for
what
I
did?"
I'd
be
confused.
No
choices.
Then
I'd
say,
"Eff
you.
You
have
the
nerve
to
think
you're
a
man.
But
there's
no
difference
between
a
coward
and
you."