I was fed up of the same image: Neha Dhupia

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She famously said once that in Bollywood only two things sell - sex and Shah Rukh Khan but Neha Dhupia who delivered that gems some years ago is distancing herself from those bold films which made her a familiar face. The actress says she is pursuing movies that give her an opportunity to act. No wonder she has been hanging out with likes - Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah lately.

Rajeev Masand chatted with Neha Dhupia about her career reinvention and her idols in the business.

Here is an excerpt from the interview –

Rajeev Masand: The career reinvention, was that a conscious decision? You became a household name and a household name by playing the bold siren lady in films like Qayamat, Julie and now we suddenly see you in all these small quirky films Ek Chalis Ki Last Local, Mithya, Dasvidaniya, Maharathi; was it a conscious changing of tracks?

Neha Dhupia: Yes, it was. Honestly, I cannot get deep into this explanation, there is only one simple word - I was just fed up. I told myself that there is no other way out; I had to take two steps back to take four steps forward and luckily we were in this phase of cinema where intelligence marked scripts work and nothing else works so I just held back and before I was doing films for the wrong reasons and now I am doing films for the right reasons and that is what is making all difference.

Rajeev Masand: So, tell me on the street when they recognise you, do they recognize you for Singh is King or Dasvidaniya?

Neha Dhupia: Well, I have to admit that when I go to Bangalore or Kolkata they’d we like this is the girl from Mithya and they would say - Neha Dhupia you were fabulous but then if I go to Meerut or Rajkot they’ll be like - Julie aa gayi (Julie has come) even now. So, I don’t know which one it is and I don’t know which one is the right thing and of course for Singh is King, I remember the week it was released I flew out for a shoot a week later and I had these 12 sardarjis, I met them at the airport they were so excited to see me. So, I mean different kind of film and different kind of audience.

Rajeev Masand: So, do you feel like this is the best time for you really?

Neha Dhupia: No, I have some real exciting things coming up for the next year and I think it is going to be better. I hope so, I don’t want to speak this sooner because I feel I have seen so much happen and I don’t feel anyone in such a short span has seen so much ups and downs, so much bashings and at the same time things have started looking good so i just feel der aaye durust aaye (better late than never).

Rajeev Masand: Tell me was it very difficult to get people like Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah - with whom you have been working very prolifically lately - to take you seriously?

Neha Dhupia: It all changed just one day in the gym. I have seen Mixed doubles and I went on. I didn’t know Rajat much and I wasn’t very familiar with that kind of cinema. It wasn’t very big when Mixed Doubles came and I felt Mixed Doubles changed a lot. I was running on the tread and then I looked up and I felt that this is the guy (Rajat Kapoor) who made Mixed Doubles and he said, “I have been waiting to call you and aren’t you Neha Dhupia” and I thought - why would he want to call me he is a smart guy because I don’t do these kind of movies.

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Interestingly, Rajat doesn’t have a mobile phone so if you have to get in touch with him he has to call you, you can never call him so he said,” I will call you in the first week of April - that was about six week later - and he did. He called up and told me that there is this movie I am making and I want you to be a part of it so I was very excited.

It was a big sort of change and I wasn’t doing anything then because I was fed up of doing the same thing and being stuck in the same image, it was getting into me. I can’t be more honest than this and I don’t know if actors are suppose to talk like this. He then called me for one film and Sourav was a part of it. Sourav saw me there and asked me to do one more film and after that I have done three more films with him.

Vinay was producing one film and I did one film with him and that after a time things came to a point when Rajat directed another film which is a really fantastic film and now we have worked so much together that we can’t work with each other any more. It is great, I enjoy myself so much. Even with Naseer, I worked with him in Mithya, then in Maharathi. He is so good and has such a great sense of humour. I appreciate everything that I learn on the set.

Rajeev Masand: In last week’s Maharathi, you worked with Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal and Bomen Irani. Tell me does one become a better actor by working with good actors?

Neha Dhupia: You learn a lot. You are more relaxed, you are suddenly appreciated by the people you are working with next saying - oh, she has worked with all of them. I don’t know if I have become a better actor. I saw this in a film and I must share with you.

The movie is a sort of a chic flick but has a deep meaning. There is this girl who goes for an audition. She is a real pretty girl and she is sure to get the part to play the Julliet and there is a backstage runner who is not smart and who is sure to not get the part but she also happens to come for the auditions. Instead of the main lead girl getting the part, the backstage girl gets the part. The guy who plays the Romeo asks the girl have you been to the acting school and the girl says no and the guy says - do me a favour, please don’t go to the acting school.

So, I think that even when you make mistake there is so much of vulnerability that comes out. I think it is okay to make a mistake, we are actors we are doing things. I was actually doing things which were wrong initially, may be I was misguided.

Rajeev Masand: Have your idols changed? Every actress here comes to be Madhuri Dixit but you seem to have realised that one just doesn’t have to be that, one could be Shabana, Smita or could be a Tabu. Tell me have your idols changed over the years?

Neha Dhupia: Not really, sometimes I try to figure this out and I realise that for me my competition is my idol. Someone who is doing fantastically right now is Kareena Kapoor, so those are the people who need to be your idols. The thing is that we get so lost, we are so insecure that we’ll never say it but why not say that she is doing a great job. Usually women who are associated with the cinema and good performances are not expected to be glamorous but I want to use it to my advantage and not shy away from this.

Rajeev Masand: That is fantastic. Best of luck and looking forward to see more from you. Thank you so much for talking to us.

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