‘It would be fun not to have male actors’

Actor Esha Deol says she’s bored of typical Bollywood masala films and is ready for some cutting-age cinema.

Quite contrary to the oomph image she exudes on screen, Esha Deol can quite baffle you with her persona when you first meet her. “At home, they know I have a split personality. There is this side of me that is flamboyant when I meet people and interact; I am loud, bold and bratty. But at home, I am spiritual and disciplined. Maintaining multi-images comes very naturally to me.”

Compliment Esha on her toned and envious figure and she won’t give you the standard Bollywood one-liners about good metabolism and fantastic genes. Instead she says, “It is very difficult to maintain this figure. You are so enthusiastic when you set yourself a target, but when you achieve it, maintaining it becomes a monotonous routine.”

And all thanks to her athletic image, she seems to be the director’s choice when it comes to casting actors for action films. However, Esha admits that she is quite bored of regular Bollywood masala movies and wants to don a different garb altogether. She says, “I have made huge mistakes in selecting films earlier. You know how newcomers in the industry are? All starry eyed! Along the years, Indian cinema is changing and I too want to broaden my horizon.”

Esha wants to step into new and experimental cinema, preferably those that have women-centric scripts. She is also looking forward to mom Hema’s revival of their home production that will see beti in several new avatars on the screen. She says, “As an actor, of course I will be understood better. After all, your family understands you best. We surveyed the situation and realised that producers in the industry today are quite prosperous. I belong to a very creative family. It is time now to cash in on that fact.”

Speculations are rife that an earlier Hema Malini project that was to shoot Esha and veteran actress Rekha together did not see the light of the day as most male actors approached for the film backed out, feeling there was little for them in a project dominated by two women. Ask Esha if that’s true, and she laughs. “It is not necessary that every project will work out as planned. Having said that, it would be fun not to have male actors around. Hopefully, that day will come when I am still around in the industry.”

Her most recent release, Kunal Shivdasani’s Hijack, sees Esha playing the role of an air hostess caught in a mid-air crisis. So does this role satisfy Esha’s creative potential? She says, “There was nothing much to be done apart from acting like a level-headed and composed woman through out the panic situation. After all, you can’t change much about that profession.”
c_sujata@dnaindia.net