“I am not insecure” - Amrita Rao

Is it possible for an actor to be too good? There was a moment when it looked that way, thanks to Amrita Rao. I recently met the 'lost actress' on the sets of her new television commercial she was doing for a shampoo brand called 'Vivel'. Rao's face does not have a bland perfection of classic beauty. She is much younger looking in the flesh than on the big screen, the features are bold, eyebrows questioning, and the mouth forthright.

"I am not lost. Tell everyone that Amrita Rao will be back next year with a bang," she quotes. In an industry where fame is often the paramount objective, it is hard to name another actress who willingly jumped off the A-list bus, exchanging the glamorous life style with the subtleness of being an artist and not an actor.

Dressed in peach coloured capri's and a white sleeveless top, Rao looks stylish but in an off-beat, thrown-together way quite unlike the groomed and glossy glamour of many of her contemporaries. She looks like one of those school girls you had a crush on. And to answer my question right at the beginning...well, Rao is too good. You can call it an understatement if you feel like. This special correspondent meets the petite and the demure Amrita. Love U Miss Kalakaar.

Not disappeared
It's a good sign when my well wishers say that I have disappeared. It means that they want to see me again. I haven't taken a sabbatical and let me make it clear by quoting, 'Just a little bit of wait more and you will see me early next year on the big screen.'

Love U... Mr. Kalakaar
I have just about finished my film with the debutant director Manasvi. He is a Film Institute graduate. His student film got some award and a lot of appreciation. That film caught the Barjatya's eye and the rest you will see in the form of my new film Love U... Mr. Kalakaar with Tusshar Kapoor.

Barjatya Family
Working with the Barjatyas isn't like working in a camp. It's like working with a family. It's like I am back home. Passionately yes, but not physically, Sooraj Barjatya was involved in every department of Love U... Mr. Kalakaar.

Availability
There is always a demand for freshness. Fortunately, I have never seen struggle. I have never got to go knocking the doors for work. Work has always come my way. I am programmed in such a way that I would believe in myself and say, 'I have a certain aura, a certain talent and if you need that talent and aura, Amrita is available.'

Insecurity
I am not insecure. Most of the actresses who've joined the industry are from the same generation. But me, by the virtue of, having started much younger than they did, I have the advantage of experience and youth. That is my USP as of today. Sometimes, it's extremely difficult to find good, new talent and it's not only the face and your body. It's a package deal.

Ad world & Film world
My first advert was for Close Up toothpaste. The advertising world is much faster paced, more professional and very hungry for detailing. Their online edit is a concept that unfortunately doesn't exist in Bollywood. As I am shooting every frame for the advert, the best takes get joined and they edit the ad film. If our editors can take a bit of that from the ad world, we can cut costs and divulge our new talent to the world.

Bollywood today
Our Film Industry is currently going through one of the most creatively challenged phase. We are giving priority to actors more than scripts. We are falling on our faces again and again and the makers aren't getting the point.