Bharati Dubey in Malaysia

Sushmita Sen is busy at the final dress rehearsals for her Moulin Rouge act. She performs the dance --- feathered trapeze, outlandish costime et al --- at the third International India Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Malaysia.

She refuses to discuss much about the show. "You have to watch the show to know more about it," she quips.

"I am quite excited about performing [the song] Diamonds are a girl's best friend. It was once done by [actress] Marilyn Monroe. Later, Nicole Kidman sang the song in [Australian director] Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge. The reason why we chose a Hollywood number rather than a Hindi one is because we wanted to pay a tribute to Hollywood."

Sushmita seems quite excited about her latest release Aankhen. "This film is very special to me."

But is she happy with the way her career is shaping up? "Well, you know, just today, a newspaper carried a report that my career was almost finished. Let me tell you, I have signed on for the English version of Mahesh Manjrekar's Astitva; Farah Khan's film with Shah Rukh Khan and Pankaj Parasher's film, which is based on Basic Instinct.

"I have done ten films. I have two hits to my credit. Yet I am here only because I do my best at whatever is given to me."

About the fate of her last release, Meghna Gulzar's Filhaal --- which also starred Tabu, Sanjay Suri and Palash Sen --- at the box office, Sushmita is quite pragmatic. "I don't know what people like and don't like. So I really don't know the reason for the failure of the film. It was a sincere effort by each of us."

On the personal front, Sushmita says, "I don't want to talk about it. I will not talk about [hotelier] Sanjay [Narang, whom she is dating] till I decide to marry him. Yes, he is my boyfriend. And life is beautiful."

Sushmita explains, about her daughter Renee, "I have always been a mother. When I was kid, I mothered my younger brother. I mothered my parents and even my boyfriends. Out of the many wrongs in my life, this is one right that has happened to me."