Who Cares?

Shrugs Amisha Patel

She didn't have a godfather. Yet she made it. And Amisha Patel's ecstatic about her success. She gloats, "It's of no use if you owe your success to someone else. I'm proud that I'm a self-made person." The actress is busy shooting for Suniel Darshan's Mere Jeevan Saathi. Her mom Asha Patel's also starring in the film. Though she isn't required for the day, she's around, providing moral support to beti Amisha. These days, Amisha's cock-a-hoop about her next release Humraaz. They're adding one more song to the film. And she wants choreographer Raju Khan to fashion it on the lines of the title song of a James Bond film. Obviously, she wants to leave no stone unturned to make sure the succeeds. She enthuses, "To me, the main attraction of Humraaz was working with Abbas-Mustan. Any heroine will give her left arm to work with them." Clearly, Amisha is banking on Humraaz to put the brakes on her dwindling fortunes at the b-o. She informs that her role is something she's never attempted before. The character is very humane, with shades of both negative and positive. "Oops, I can't reveal any more," she giggles.

Though Bobby Deol and Amisha earlier teamed up in Kranti, this is the first time that she's worked with Akshaye Khanna. It's said that Akshaye's very moody, reserved and temperamental... "Hey, that's not true at all," she interrupts. "Akshaye's a very sweet, open and caring person. Working with Bobby and Akshaye felt like I was working with my best friends. Mark my words, Akshaye will steal the show in Humraaz." After Gadar, none of Amisha's films have made an impact at the box office. Tell her this and she frowns, "Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai is a hit," she says in defence. "The initial wasn't good, but it has picked up and is running to packed houses everywhere." What about Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar, Kranti and Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage? Says she, "As far as AMALL goes, I feel it was an excellent film." But wasn't AMALL more like an old-fashioned romance? "Doesn't the audience look for the same?" she asks a little agitated. "If we give them a fresh subject, they reject it saying it's vulgar and bold. If we give them rehashed plots, they pull it down saying it's baasi. What can you do? It's really a sad state of affairs." Amisha blames the media for this. "If we try to do something different and the film fails, the media tears it to shreds. When the run-of-the mill do well, they highlight the silliest aspects and praise them to the skies." Though the actress has had a few flops, she bravely announces that hits and flops don't matter. She emphasises, "See, my job ends with the dubbing. I give my 100 per cent to every film. It doesn't matter who the director or producer of a film is, my passion remains the same. Vikram Bhatt, Hrithik Roshan, producer Mohan Kumar and I gave Aap Mujhe... our best shot."

Another reason for her failure could be the number of promos the viewers are bombarded with. She has so many releases coming up that one can't differentiate between her films. They all look the same. Amisha snaps, "Do you think the public cares? And please, you can tell one from the other. The look is different. The audience doesn't care how many releases an actress has. They'll still go to watch a good film." Isn't it surprising that a girl who started her career with whopping successes is facing failure today? But Amisha feels otherwise. Says she, "Failure is the stepping stone to success. Only after failure can you appreciate success. I'm sure there are many more successful films ahead." Controversies seem to surround her like fireflies gather round a torch. Recently, she backed out of two shows, one organised by the Moranis and the other by Popcorn Entertainment. Apparently, she asked for such huge amounts of money that the Moranis opted for Karisma while Popcorn Entertainment went ahead with Tabu. But Amisha has a different story to tell. She says, "I'd refused the Popcorn Entertainment show right at the beginning because I had no dates. I needed to concentrate on completing my films." Tell her that Popcorn Entertainment complained that Amisha and her mother behaved rudely and she frowns, "This is news to me. We have never misbehaved with anyone. Don't pull my mom into all this. And I'm certainly not rude. I'm not brought up like that." Next I want to know whether she's forgiven Ganesh Hegde who, she claimed, had sabotaged her act at the Filmfare Awards. She states matter of factly, "I don't hold grudges. And I don't expect anyone to apologise to me. But I forgive them anyway." Does she regret losing out on Lagaan? The buzz goes that Amisha was also screen-tested for Gauri's role, which eventually went to Gracy Singh. She states, "After Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai, my image was that of a glamorous heroine. Lagaan needed someone without any image. After watching the film, I understood they were right. Gracy was perfect for the role." Despite Gadar being so successful, director Anil Sharma has opted for Preity Zinta in his next film, The Hero. This, after going ga-ga over her in print. Amisha informs, "Anilji did ask me to do The Hero. Since he needed 70 days at a stretch, I would have had to stall AMALL and Humraaz. I couldn't be unethical and leave my producers high and dry." It's surprising that on the one hand she's doing films with successful heroes and on the other she's signed a film with newcomer Karan Nath.

Glancing towards Rikku (rakesh Nath), her secretary and Karan's Dad, Amisha asks, "Didn't I work with Jimmy Shergill? Karan is the only hero who had a hit this year. And he is more successful than most of the actors today." Despite tom-tomming the fact that the Patels are not filmi, they've turned around and joined films. Asha Patel is already working as a character artiste while brother Ashmit Patel is making his debut in director Vikram Bhatt's film. Says she, "This is entirely Ashmit's decision. Initially, he wasn't interested. But after he started assisting Vikram, he wanted to give acting a try. I don't interfere in his affairs." The market is thriving on both big budget as well as low budget films these days. Would Amisha opt for the latter? Amisha reminds, "Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar was a low-budget film. My second film Gadar was a tricky role too, considering I played a 30-year- old and also the mother of a child. I'm open to playing a variety of characters.

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