I am not an intelligent actress: Mahie Gill

After winning critical acclaim for her roles in Dev D, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, Paan Singh Tomar, actress Mahie Gill says she is confused about her standing in Bollywood as new roles are not coming her way. "I don't know if I have cemented my position in the industry. Like when I go out, industry people tell me I am good and an intelligent actress. But people only talk and don't give me work. So I fail to understand as to what they are telling is truth or not," Mahie told PTI.

The 37-year-old actress, who essayed Paro in Dev D, a beghum in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and a small town wife in Paan Singh Tomar says she is happy that this genre too is seeing commercial success. "I am confused. I don't know where I am in the industry today. But luckily films Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, Paan Singh Tomar have started getting commercial success today," she said. According to Mahie, she stumbled upon out-of-box roles by chance. "People think I am an intelligent actress and they think of giving me those kinds of roles. I am not an intelligent actress... it just happened," she said.

Mahie feels that Anurag Kashyap-directed Dev D not only revived experimental cinema but also showed that it can be commercial successful. "I have grown up watching Yash Chopra's films. I was not aware if this kind of cinema exists. Earlier, there were times when Hrishikesh Mukherjee used to make that kind of cinema. For some time, this kind of films were not getting made. I think after Dev D a new age of cinema came in," she said. Mahie had won 2010 Filmfare Critics Award for best actress for her character 'Paro' in Dev D. The actress, who started her career in Punjabi films, says intimacy on screen is getting more realistic these days and she is not averse to it, provided such scenes are complementary to the film plot.

Mahie shed her inhibitions in films like Not A Love Story, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster to show her bold side. "I think a little bit of intimacy and romance is there now as you can't fool audience. People want to watch realistic scenes and films. May be in my films there are a couple of scenes like that (bold) but when people come out after watching that film, it is the subject that remains in their mind," she said.

Mahie says that such scenes get relegated in people's memory to the strong content of her films. However, the actress says that she would not just jump in bed for the sake of it unless she is convinced. "It is not easy at all to do it. When there are a lot of people around while you shoot you feel awkward. You can tell your director not to have too many people around. I should also feel that intimacy is required in this film. Once you are convinced then it becomes easy," she said. Mahie revealed that she turned down many offers to do intimate scenes in the aftermath of Dev D as she thought they were not required in films.