8216;ACTORS ARE LIKE VAGABONDS146;

Ash on playing princess, crossing over and the chemistry with Hrithik

Had you kept a diary on your days of being princess Jodhaa, which would be the most memorable moments?
The first would be the day Ashutosh Gowariker approached me with a film offer. The next was when he sent me an SMS saying 8216;Will you be my Jodhaa?8217; and I promptly said 8216;Yes.8217; The third would be the first day of the shooting, which was a year after I had signed the film. Though it was a brief schedule, sometime in November 2006, it8217;s memorable because we were searching and finding our characters at the start of something that we could sense would be a great journey.
Another very sweet personal moment happened when the shoot was on in full throttle in early 2007 and I was about to get married in April. Sometime in March, when we were shooting the haldi moment for the marriage scene, Ashutosh whispered to me, 8216;This is like a complete rehearsal for you.8217; Even though I had done such scenes earlier as an actor, somehow this was a literal prelude, and it did make me blush. It was very sweet of him to say that. Last, would be the sword fighting sequence. I enjoyed doing it, though I wish there would have been a lot more of it in Jodhaa Akbar like The Last Legion.

Will a period love story connect with today8217;s young audience?
When we came on board as actors, Ashutosh clearly told us that this was no history lesson. It is a love story that has never been told or documented. What you see onscreen is his imagination of what could have happened between these two people, who at the end of the day were just a boy and a girl, discovering each other as a man and a woman after becoming husband and wife. And discovering love and realising it after marriage is still an Indian reality.

From Dhoom 2 to Jodhaa Akbar, how has your equation with Hrithik Roshan evolved?
Doing such diverse films consecutively, we have become friends and really enjoy working with each other. As actors, there8217;s a lot we give each other from our mutual love for our craft. That shows in the comfort we share on screen.

What have you taken back from being Jodhaa?
Whatever happened between Jodhaa and Akbar started as a political alliance. It was a brilliant move on Jallaluddin8217;s Akbar part to put forth the offer of a marital alliance to peacefully acquire a territory. But for Jodhaa, it meant getting married to a foreign culture, that of the enemy. She was getting married into a religion she did not understand or want to embrace, because it was regarded as that of the enemy. So it8217;s beautiful if you imagine her vulnerability, her helplessness, and what strength it must have taken for a young girl to go forth and silently embrace it for the maan-samman of her father8217;s decision and for her people. She broke down and cried, because she was a girl, after all. But what incredible innate strength she must have had at that time and age to take such a bold step. She went through it quietly without making a scene. That8217;s something I have utmost respect for and is typical of a woman.

You seem to be on a perennial crossover mode to the west. Personally, how far do you think you have managed to get there?
Being there and here are just parameters that the media creates. I am doing what I love to do, which is acting in a kind of cinema I enjoy viewing. We have fantastic patronage because of our sheer numbers. Isn8217;t every sixth human in the world an Indian or Asian today? I don8217;t like terms such as crossover, going to Hollywood and I don8217;t subscribe to the Bollywood tag either. I don8217;t like to compartmentalise 8212; it8217;s just cinema for me, irrespective of the language, genre, scale, or any other aspect. Coming and going is just indicative of our place of residence; otherwise actors are vagabonds.

Are you playing Mumtaz Mahal or Noor Jehan in Ben Kingsley8217;s recently announced project on the Taj Mahal?
In Sir Ben8217;s idea, my role obviously was that of Mumtaz, but they are still creating the script. So let8217;s talk about it when the film is ready to go on the floor. Until then, he has made his announcement and he has spoken to me. I gladly accepted because I liked his take on the subject and his sheer passion when he said, 8216;If I want to come back to India after Gandhi, it has to be with this.8217;

What8217;s next in the pipeline?
I had immediately resumed work after marriage, completing Sarkar Raj and then going abroad to do Pink Panther 2. In Hindi films, I am doing Sriram8217;s Raghavan next which is in the final stages scripting and have just said yes to working with Shankar and Rajni sir Rajnikanth in Robot.

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A tulip, a wax statute and now a college named after you. How do you keep yourself grounded?
There is no ego and thank you for attributing to me that I am grounded. I give full credit to my parents and their upbringing that has made me the person I am. I am blessed to have a wonderful family that8217;s always kept me real. People expressing their appreciation is dear to me, but I don8217;t base my output on awards, medals, nomenclatures and titles.