‘I hope I can fulfil my dreams’

All meaty roles: Raima Sen is doing diverse roles in three forthcoming films, Manorama, Migration and Meridian

These are testing times for Raima Sen. She is up on trial in Eklavya and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. Vickey Lalwani chats up the happening actor

You play a mentally challenged girl in Eklavya?

Yes. I play Nandini, Prince Yashwardhan’s (Saif Ali Khan) sister. She is like an eight-year-old trapped in the body of a 25-year-old.

How did you prepare for it?
Prodeep Sarkar (who directed Parineeta) auditioned me about three or four times, and he told me to observe children and their behaviour. Every time I went to Vidhu’s home, I would minutely observe his daughter Zuni. Vidhu and I had discussions about how Nandini would speak and about her mannerisms.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra is said to be a tough taskmaster?

Yes. For the song Chanda re, I had to learn to fly a kite. I did not read the script properly, and missed it. So I did not learn how to fly a kite. He got annoyed then.

So how was that scene shot?

We had to cheat by showing the action of flying a kite, but there was no kite there.

You were very uncomfortable in the kissing scene with Kay Kay?

Yes, both I and Kay Kay were very uncomfortable before the shot. The director Reema had to justify to us that the kiss was essential. Before the kiss was shot, Kay Kay and I shot another scene which required us to get intimate. Both scenes were canned on the same day. Once the initial hiccups were overcome, we went ahead and shot a beautiful scene. I can’t tell you more about the kiss because it would give away the surprise element in my track.

Go on...

Kay Kay and I are shown as a couple on their honeymoon. We are not showing anything unnatural in their kiss. But it’s not something drastic, like the Aamir-Karisma liplock in Raja Hindustani or Hrithik-Aishwarya’s in Dhoom 2. Honestly speaking, it’s a cheat kiss (A cheat kiss means you ‘cheat’ the audiences into thinking that the on-screen couple is indulging in a serious lip-lock with the help of clever camera angles). What matters in the end is that the shot was done effectively.

Incidentally, I have three films and all three start with M and are English names (laughs). Manorama- Six Feet Under: The film is a thriller starring Abhay Deol, Gul Panag and me, directed by ad filmmaker debutante Navdeep. Abhay and Gul play a married couple. Then I have Migration, a film directed by Mira Nair and stars Shiney Ahuja, Irrfan Khan, me and Sameera Reddy. I am a village belle Yamuna paired opposite Shiney. Third is Meridian. The film, directed by debutant director Vinay Mitra, stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Arjun Rampal, Abhay Deol, Irrfan Khan, me and Soha Ali Khan. I play a film heroine who is having an affair with her director; Arjun Rampal plays a 70-year old man who was crazy about her in his previous birth.

Any dream roles?

I would love to do all of them. I am extremely greedy. There is so much I want to do. I have too many dreams to fulfill. I hope I can fulfill them in this lifetime.

Are you happy with the way your career is shaping up?

I am very focused and working extremely hard. Movies are part of my life. Earlier I used to have more hobbies which I cannot pay attention to now because movies take up all my time. —TWF