No. I didn't want to mix up the script and the novel.

Right. Women there have gone through many of the experiences that my character goes through in Pinjar. Indian history hasn't really recorded the pain and suffering of the women who were used as pawns in the vendetta game during Partition. Abduction and rape were only the beginning of these women's trauma. Many such women were impregnated and had nowhere to go.
How would you describe your character in Pinjar?
My character in Pinjar goes through the harrowing experience of being abducted during Partition. When she escapes and manages to return to her family, they shun her. Think of it, the issue of social stigmas and ostracisation of women 60 years ago is just as relevant today. Women still have to constantly prove their innocence and assert their right to dignity in our patriarchal society.

I can't tell you how moved I am. I don't think any film has or will make as much difference to me as a human being, actress and a woman as Pinjar has done. We actors in Bollywood exist in a cocoon that is far removed from real world. Pinjar awakened me
to the reality that most women face. We just have to step out of Mumbai or step out of our cars to see how women at the grassroots live

We don't know about the wounds of Partition. We don't know that those haven't healed still. We have just read history books. I was a very good student and scored very high in history, but the books don't tell you each and every detail. Unless and until you see those wounds in person, you will not feel sensitised. You know what I mean? I am sorry if I am sounding fairy-tailish, but a beginning has to be made to eradicate all conflicts arising due to religion.

Difficult to say. As a human being, I got the opportunity to realise something and make a statement. Hope that people realise when they see it.

That I don't know, but I would love to see Pinjar being screened in Pakistan. It is minus any bias, colour, etc.

I don't think so. Recently, I did a commercial film Deewaangee. I want to be remembered in the cricket sense as an all-rounder. But yes, I am now looking at roles with substance. I can't accept all roles that require me to pout and preen. Even when I had a dance item like Kambakht Ishq in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, I made sure it was better than my earlier dance numbers in Rangeela, Mast and China Gate.

Today, I am having the best of both worlds—commercial and art. Filmmakers are coming to me with the meatiest of roles. I am having my cake and eating it too! Actually, the sex-symbol image is a figment of the media; they just want some sensational heading and matter to fill up their pages. It should have stopped long back when I was offered Judaai, soon after Rangeela.

When I read some of these rubbish stories (in the Press), I feel flabbergasted. It's sad to see respected sections of the media putting two and two together and saying it's five. Anyway, let them write what they want. The man or woman who pays hard-earned money to watch my film will not be influenced by what the magazines write about me.

Yeah. I think the day I became a celebrity I gave up all right to privacy. I can't go around explaining and clarifying everything. Anyway, friends don't need it, and enemies won't believe it. By refuting nasty rumours, articles, I feel I'm giving garbage the dignity it does not deserve.

You have seldom been thick pals with any heroine...
I am not daggers drawn with any of them. As and when I meet them, we chat and have pleasant moments. Honestly speaking, our fast and stressful life does not leave any scope for intimate friendships.

I have three films—Khalid Mohammed's Tehzeeb, Ram Gopal Varma's film for 20th Century Fox Ek Haseena Thi and Tanuja Chandra's A Hope and a Little Sugar (a nice frothy story about a Muslim boy and a Sikh girl).

I don't believe in ghosts at all. That was simply acting. Thanks if you liked it. Believe me, human beings can be far more scary, dangerous and harmful than ghosts. TWF