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Bipasha: People called me sexy but didn't mean it in a nice way

Bipasha Basu is one of the sexiest actresses in the Hindi film industry. And while this tag has helped her many times, she's also lost out on many film roles because of it.

In a candid chat with Anupama Chopra for Vogue India, Bipasha tells us it's hard to find love, and that she's never done a film with Shah Rukh Khan yet.

Here's presenting excerpts from the conversation. Read the entire interview in the October issue of Vogue India.

You’ve described yourself as a funny, simple girl but I see a strong, successful, fearlessly sexy woman...

I’m fearlessly sexy, but that’s the only way I know to be. It’s not because I’m in the movies.  I’ve learned a very strong word called ‘No’ from the time I was a child. 

When Ajnabee released, I wasn’t interested in the reviews because for me it was a one-off.

Raaz (2002) was not a plan either. I was seeing Dino (Morea) then and was visiting him on set the same day Lisa Ray dropped out of the film, so Mukeshji (Bhatt) said, “Your boyfriend’s in the film, we don’t have a heroine.”

That’s how Raaz happened.

'People feel 'this girl, she's so sexy, she can't play the girl next door''

Many believe this is the best time to be a woman in Bollywood, but is that really true? Do you find better scripts are coming to you now?

They’re terrible scripts. They’re so terrible that I’m like, 'No, I’d rather work out in the gym.'

There’s a lot of talk about certain films that have pushed the sexual envelope in Bollywood but you were there way back in 2003. Has the ‘sexy’ tag ever become a limitation?

Yes.

From day one they called me ‘sexy’ and at that point people didn’t (mean it) in a nice way. It was never supposed to be a compliment.

Sometimes you get stereotyped and they feel ‘this girl, she’s so sexy, she can’t play the girl next door’. It’s happened to me many times.

'I want to live till I'm 100'

You are 30-plus, single, and 'a no-camp, no-Khan heroine'. Is that a scary place to be in?

I want to have a Khan! I definitely want to do a film with Shah Rukh Khan but it’s not happened yet. I hope it does before I put out my white flag. 

Your break-up with John Abraham was dissected by the media for months. How do you deal with it? What makes you so strong?

The fact that I want to live till I’m 100. I want to die a very old woman. There will be sadness, there will be problems, and I might not have (all) the answers, but I have to go through it. I used to be extremely vulnerable. Now I don’t know where I get my strength from.

Do you think Indian men have kept pace with Indian women?

There are all kinds of Indian men. I’m still trying to figure out the opposite sex.

It’s very tough to be with a girl who speaks her mind all the time. So the man I have to be with has to be very secure. A confident guy -- just an intelligent, confident guy -- even that’s tough to find. It’s really a task.

'Bollywood has never made me do something I've never wanted to do'

Is it especially hard for women in the film industry to find love?

It is.

I believe that two actors could be better partners only because they’ll understand their line of work, the requirements, and the need for space at times. If I have a man in my life who is from a completely different field, and I am still acting, and always travelling, it’s going to be tough for him to understand.

It’s tough because this is such a demanding profession. Like I said, if I’m working 15 hours and then I want to work out, and then I want to see my niece, and I want to see my parents, where’s the time to even meet someone? Where do you meet?

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in your years in Bollywood?

This profession has given me a sense of pride. I’m a very happy girl even today because Bollywood has never made me do something I’ve never wanted to do.