Making the right moves
Ruchika M. Khanna

AFTER a long hiatus from Bollywood, Pardes girl Mahima Chaudhary, who was in Chandigarh last week to campaign for the INLD candidate Harmohan Dhawan, is ready to sizzle again on the silver screen. The actor, once touted as the next best thing to happen to Bollywood after Madhuri Dixit, is now ready for her second innings with the lead role in Anupam Kher’s English movie, Chess. The film is being screened at Cannes this month.

"My career graph is on a new high," she says, her face brightening up as she talks about her new projects. "My next film with director Tanuja Chandra, Film Star, is expected to catapult my career to a new high. I am also doing a film opposite Pakistani actor Maumur Rana which is going to be the first legal Bollywood release in Pakistan," says the actor. She will also be seen opposite Dino Morea in Gumnaam and The Film, in which she plays a writer.

Mahima Chaudhary, aka Ritu Chaudhary, was a model-cum-VJ when she was spotted by showman Subhash Ghai. He gave her a grand break in Pardes opposite Shah Rukh Khan. It fetched her the Best Newcomer Filmfare Award in 1997. But somewhere along the way, her career graph began to slump. Her movies failed at the box office in spite of good performances in Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar, Deewane and Dhadkan.

Her onscreen magic may have been on the wane but her starry nakhras were very much intact offscreen during her visit to the city. Even as she addressed two election meetings in an open jeep, she stayed under an umbrella all the time. She called it quits after an hour, saying that she could not bear the scorching heat. Her auburn tresses framing her heart-shaped face, the star explained that since she hailed from a political family (her grandmother was active in Uttar Pradesh politics and close to Chandra Shekhar and Ajit Singh), she was often called by politician friends for campaigning. But joining politics is a big no-no for her. "I am not cut out for politics, but have been campaigning for candidates, ever since my first movie Pardes," she added.

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