‘I want to get out of the item number trap’

With leading roles in big banners lined up for release soon, Ishaa Koppikar is all set for an image makeover, writes Shoma A. Chatterji

Ishaa Koppikar got the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award for her Tamil film Kadhal Kavithai

I got into modelling merely for pocket money. No one in my family has ever been remotely linked either to modelling or films. My father is a gynaecologist and my mother used to work in a bank. My grandmother was the first woman graduate to come out of Mumbai’s R. R. Ruia College. I was a state-level basketball player and also trained in kathak from Neelambari Jadhav, who is a disciple of Birju Maharaj. I have trained in taekwondo and hapkido. Films just happened. My first break in a Hindi film was Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dharkan which got shelved. Meanwhile, I graduated in life sciences because my father insisted that I should finish college. I won the Miss Talent Crown in the Miss India 1995 contest. I began with a Tamil film Kadhal Kavithai (1998) opposite Prashanth that got me the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. I also acted opposite Arvind Swamy in a Tamil film En Swasa Kaatre and a couple of Telugu films. But after Company, there has been no looking back.

Yes. That’s right. Though I was a bit disappointed in the beginning when I saw that all I had was two item numbers in Kaante — one after another — and no role to speak of, I saw it as an occupational hazard one goes through in every line of work.

Firstly, the presentation and packaging of the final product must be good. Secondly, the script should excite me absolutely. The banner should be big. Then my role in the film, who my hero is going to be and of course, the director. I am a spontaneous actor but I am also known to be a director’s delight because I am very disciplined on the sets. I do my homework religiously and give 100 per cent to my role and to the film.

That’s right. I have been trying to break out of the item-girl stereotype for some time now. I played a paan-chewing cop in Kya Kool Hai Hum and since then, some directors discovered that I have a flair for comedy. I would love to do comic roles because the film industry in Bollywood lacks a female comedienne. I am doing diverse roles that have given me the chance to explore my potential. The films that are now lined up for release are — Atul Agnihotri’s Hello based on Chetan Bhagat’s bestseller One Night @ the Call Center, Lalit Marathe’s Shabri, Jahnu Barua’s Harr Pal, Manoj Tiwari’s Hello Darling and Kaushik Ghatak’s Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi.

In Hello Darling, I play a girl from Panipat who comes to Mumbai looking for a job. It deals with serious issues like sexual harassment at workplace but with a very light-hearted touch. I play a girl who works under a skirt-chaser boss, played by Javed Jaffrey. The message of the film is that the way a girl dresses is no indication of her moral character or values. I got the director to get me a language expert to lend cadence to my Hindi spoken with a heavy Haryanvi accent. In Harr Pal, I am Preity Zinta’s friend. We stay together in a hostel. My character has much impact on the life of the character Preity plays. In Shabri, I play an orphaned woman. Hello is about five friends of which I play one of the three girls, along with Gul Panag and Amrita Rao. The two men are played by Sharman Joshi and Sohail Khan. I play Esha who wants to break into modelling for a career but the dream eludes her. Hello Darling, under Subhash Ghai’s Mukta Arts banner, is an out and out comedy that revolves around three heroines and a villain. Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi is a moving story about a man-woman relationship that goes beyond the bonds of marriage where the man and the woman overcome all obstacles for 12 years. I have between cast opposite Sonu Sood in this Rajashri Films production.

I am proud of Company because it gave my career the kick it needed. I am fond of Farhan Akhtar’s The Don Returns where I played Anita, Shahrukh Khan’s girlfriend. Darna Mana Hai was challenging in a different way. Girlfriend was extremely controversial and I loved doing the film. Qayamat — City Under Threat I cherish because of the strong negative shades in the character I played. Kya Kool Hai Hum and Salaam-e-Ishq are the other films I love to list among my favourites. — TWF