After
the
favourable
reviews
she
got
for
her
role
in
Lamhaa,
Bipasha
Basu
is
no
mood
to
swing
back
into
the
hottie's
groove.
Both
Bipasha
and
John
are
on
to
a
new
phase
in
their
respective
careers,
he
with
Abbas
Tyrewala's
Jhootha
Hi
Sahi
and
she
with
Lamhaa,
Aakrosh
and
Dum
Maro
Dum.
In
fact,
when
John
saw
Bipasha
in
Lamhaa
he
was
so
blown
away.
He
immediately
advised
her
to
get
only
into
projects
that
bring
out
her
acting
skills.
Says
Bipasha,
"John
loved
me
in
Lamhaa.
He
has
done
a
film
on
terrorism
New
York
and
he
feels
we
both
need
to
stretch
ourselves
as
actors
beyond
entertainment."
The
time
for
both
John
and
Bipasha
to
be
just
body-beautiful
is
over.
Says
Bipasha,
"Sure
I
am
very
proud
of
my
physique.
I've
worked
hard
on
it.
But
now
I'm
hungering
for
challenges
as
an
actress.
In
Lamhaa,
I
was
not
only
in
a
burqa
throughout.
I
also
got
a
chance
to
understand
how
life
is
lived
in
an
atmosphere
of
crisis."
Though
she
didn't
plan
it
that
way,
Bipasha's
next
two
films
Priyadarshan's
Aakrosh
and
Rohan
Sippy's
Dum
Maro
Dum
again
feature
her
in
films
and
roles
that
address
themselves
to
socially-relevant
issue.
Says
Bipasha,
"Until
I
finished
Lamhaa,
I
didn't
notice
that
the
only
two
films
I've
signed
after
are
about
burning
issues."
While
Aakrosh
is
about
honour
killing,
Dum
Maro
Dum
is
about
the
drug
mafia
in
Goa.
In
both
Bipasha
pulls
out
all
stops
to
deliver
real
performances.
Explains
the
actress,
"Real
doesn't
necessarily
mean
de-glamorized.
While
in
Aakrosh
I
play
a
school
teacher
in
a
dusty
small
town
of
North
India
and
wear
cottons;
in
Dum
Maro
Dum
which
is
about
substance
abuse,
my
character
Zoyi
is
very
zany
with-it
and
a
girl
of
today.
I'm
very
glamorous
in
Dum
Maro
Dum."
Both
the
films
would
again
require
her
to
stretch
her
limits
as
an
actor.
In
fact
Aakrosh
has
been
as
exhausting
to
do
for
Bipasha
as
Lamhaa.
"The
way
Priyadarshan
has
dealt
with
the
subject
of
honour
killing
is
remarkable.
Again
as
an
actress
I
was
put
in
a
situation
I
had
little
knowledge
of.
I
learnt
about
honour
killing
and
Kashmir
on
the
job.
Not
that
I
don't
read
newspapers.
But
reading
about
these
things
is
one
thing.
Seeing
them
first-hand
is
another."
Everyone
is
talking
about
the
sequence
in
Lamhaa
where
Bipasha's
character
is
attacked
by
hordes
of
burqa-clad
women.
"It
was
very,
very
humiliating
and
painful.
I
had
all
these
women
screaming
abuses
and
hitting
me
everywhere
on
my
body
until
I
fell
to
the
ground.
Even
after
the
director
Rahul
Dholakia
called
'cut'
I
was
on
the
floor
sobbing
inconsolably.
The
director
kept
recording
my
trauma..."
Now
in
Aakrosh
too
she
has
similar
sequence
of
mob
trauma.
Says
the
actress,
"At
least
one
could
prepare
and
rehearse
in
Aakrosh.
No
such
luxuries
were
there
in
Lamhaa.
We
sometimes
literally
had
seven
minutes
to
shoot
in
a
crowded
lane
or
street
of
Srinagar
and
flee
before
being
accosted.
That
suited
me
fine
because
I
am
a
one-take
actor."
Bipasha
now
intends
to
return
to
the
Valley
in
a
more
kindred
spirit.
"I
was
shocked
by
how
alienated
Kashmiris
are
from
the
mainstream
of
Indian
life.
Innocent
children
who
have
nothing
to
do
with
politics
referred
to
India
as
'aapka
Hindustan'.
They
actually
see
Kashmir
as
independent
state."
Bipasha
was
specially
appalled
by
the
lives
that
children
in
Kashmir
live.
"They
are
not
allowed
to
go
out
and
play.
When
Sanju
Dutt
shot
a
song
in
a
garden
with
kids
it
was
literally
a
treat
for
them.
They
had
never
been
to
a
movie
theatre.
But
the
kids
had
seen
some
of
my
movies
on
pirated
DVDs."
Now
Bipasha
would
pitch
in
her
might
for
Kashmiri
children.
"It's
easy
to
talk
about
helping
the
distresses
sections.
But
assuming
an
initiative
is
very
difficult."
John
and
Bipasha
will
create
an
awareness
of
Kashmir's
issues
in
Bollywood.
"We
can
turn
a
blind
eye
only
if
we
want
to
lose
Kashmir
forever," Bipasha
warns.