Lara Dutta: “Abhishek and I have amazing on-screen chemistry

Lara Dutta: “Abhishek and I have amazing on-screen chemistry

This is your first Yash Raj film. Encouraging?
“ ‘Jhoom’ came to me at a very difficult time. Both my parents were in the hospital, in the ICU, and I got a message saying that Shaad was casting for ‘Jhoom’ and wanted to meet me. I was very excited about it but was also tinged at that time with a little bit of my focus being completely somewhere else. I remember sitting outside the hospital, and praying and hoping that he hangs on for me. I sent him a message saying that I won’t be available on the phone for five days. I was hoping that he wouldn’t think that I wasn’t interested. When I heard the script, the character was completely sold to me by the time we came to the end of the script. I knew I really wanted to do this film and be a part of it. It’s one of the best decisions that I’ve taken.”

“Yash Raj completely spoils you as an artist, after that you find it very difficult to work with most other people and that’s the truth of it. But for every actor it’s like a dream come true to be able to work with Yash Raj, and I’m glad I got this opportunity so early in my career.”

Your role in ‘JBJ’...?
“The character that I play in ‘Jhoom’ is half Brit half Pakistani. She speaks Hindi in a French accent. She is very sophisticated and suave, she’s the manager of the Ritz in Paris and she’s somebody who meets this Rikki Thukral, who is completely opposite to her in everyway. If she’s soft spoken and sophisticated, then Rikki is best described as a diamond in the rough. But she is obviously drawn to him because he has this endearing quality about him. So, she ends up getting hitched. I play Abhishekh Bachchan’s fiancée in ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’.

our new look is interesting.
“Yes, I’ve been styled very differently on screen this time. Aki Narula who has done the styling for this film has his own quality of this large, extravagant, almost slightly crazy but really young and fun sort of a feel going. When we were styling the clothes, I was so apprehensive between all the colors that were supposed to be worn; I thought it might look quite strange on screen, but I think the results are there for everybody to see it. It’s absolutely fantastic. Bobby is looking, in my opinion, better than he has ever looked before.”

Any particular outfit from the film, you’d like to keep or wear even otherwise?
“I had a very classy beautiful black Moschino dress. I think it is the sanest outfit I’m wearing in this film. But it was just cut really nicely and maybe the fact that I was wearing it in Paris, it felt very chic and ‘fresh’ as they say.”

Tell us about your ‘wig’ story...
“Yes, that was a memorable experience when my wig (worn for my character) fell off at a very crucial stage in front of everyone at the Eiffel Tower. It was quite hilarious because Abhishek had quickly grabbed it, and I had to hide and put it into place, as the rest of the people there thought that I was French, so everyone thought it was all real and natural. It was fun!”


You shot in London and Paris. It must’ve been freezing?
“The song ‘Ticket to Hollywood’ was shot in Paris. We were there shooting it for almost a week, and yes, it was freezing cold. And the clothes I wear in the song are quite tiny. But it was a blast. Vaibhavi Merchant the choreographer did the most amazing job trying to manage a hundred dancers on the streets of Paris. London was fantastic too!”

How was Shaad Ali as a director?
“Apart from the fact that Shaad was a director, I was just really glad that he was on the sets because he was the only other Arian against the three other Aquarians - Bobby, Preity and Abhishek. Shaad is one of the sweetest nicest person’s I have worked with. He has his own brand of madness which is very typical of Shaad, and I think that’s what makes his film so vibrant and amazing.”

You’ve worked with Abhishek earlier...
“Yes, in ‘Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost’, and I was very excited to be paired opposite him again. I think he’s one of the actors that I pair best with on screen, and also he’s really very adorable as a person himself. But the magic lies in the way we feed off each other’s energy. It works really well. Even dancing with him, he’s become such a fabulous dancer from what he used to be previously. I think everybody had upped their entire level and given everything to this film

Bobby, too, is no stranger....
“Bobby is whom we call ‘baby’. We pamper and mother him. Besides all that, I think Bobby worked really hard for this film. He also has the best lines in the movie. As an actor, he isn’t selfish and that makes him fantastic.”

But it’s the first time you work with Preity Zinta...
“Yes! People often assume that when you have two actresses on set together it’s going to get a little uncomfortable; we’re going to compete with each other, but that wasn’t the case at all. Preity is one of the sweetest people I’ve worked with; we both have stepped on each other’s feet constantly while shooting for the grand finale song, and I mean that literally not figuratively, but it was amazing! Both of us were in agony together with our heels, but it was fabulous having that female company on set and she really is superbly talented and a joy to watch and learn from. I think she completely rocks.”

Your favorite track from ‘JBJ’ is...?
“The music of ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ absolutely rocks .The first time we heard it, we were super excited and we couldn’t decide which version of the title track we like the best. Now, I’ve figured that my favorite track is the title track - the desi version. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have done an exceptional job with the music of ‘JBJ’. The music is really high energy.”