If Kareena can wear a bikini why can't I: Minissha Lamba

There's a lot said about your white bikini outfit in the film. Why such a big issue?
I don't know. You know, I've not been a big film buff. But I think in the seventies, we did have makers and an India which was very progressive.

Then the 80's and the 90's were like the dark ages, which reflected in the cinemas as well. The quality of cinema went down. Now we have a very popular culture and the bikini is back in business. We wear equally sensuous Indian outfits as well.

But when you wear a bikini, the westernised form of the ultimate sexy minimalistic outfit, there is a lot of curiosity out in India because we feel that the Indian women are shedding their so called shackles which are representative of conformist clothing.

Then you have actresses like Aishwarya, who've gone completely gorgeous in Dhoom 2, you've got Esha Deol and Bipasha Basu who're seen clad in a bikini. The recent was Kareena Kapoor in Tashan. So there is nothing that stops me from doing the same.

Especially when you've got a vehicle that is going to present it well. When you have Sanjay Gadhvi coming to you and saying that I'm going to make you wear a bikini - you're not going to say no to it.

What if some other director comes to you and asks you to wear a bikini in his or her film?
You know what; the whole novelty of doing it is wearing it once. What's the point of wearing a bikini in my next film release after Kidnap?

We will come back to the bikini issue but tell us how did Sanjay Gadhvi manage to kidnap you for the film?
It was very simple actually. I was called for a general meeting at Shree Ashtavinayak's office, who are the producers of this film. I was then introduced to Sanjay Gadhvi. I didn't know that he was signed by the producers.

I had no idea about a film called Kidnap. I had no idea that the casting for such a film was happening there. Sanjay started talking and eventually it turned out to be a work meeting. We spoke about the film and he told me straight on that this is what I'm looking at doing.

You'll have to loose weight, you'll have to wear a bikini and you'll be dressed in ultra glam clothes. Are you up for it? That's what I like about his honesty. He put his cards on the table and said that this is it. I don't want trouble later on. I don't want you saying that this wasn't told to me. So if you're OK with it, we'll proceed.

I had just seen Dhoom 2 then and didn't we just love Aishwarya in it? Couldn't we not take our eyes off Hrithik Roshan? So how could I say 'No' to Sanjay Gadhvi? I was ready...ready for the change.

Did you ever try wearing a bikini at home and look yourself in the mirror and say - Wow?
Well, I do wear a bikini when I go swimming to the beach but not otherwise. I laze around in the sun and make sure I come back burnt to a crisp.

It's fun but for screen it's a whole new ball game. I did go back home and saw myself in the bikini. I was like - Oh my God! I need to do a lot of work. It was hard. Wearing a bikini is not easy. It is actually a very tension filled deadline because everyone is going to be looking at you.

Your mind is ready for it and your body is talking a completely different tune together. So you need to whip your body into shape and tell that this is what you are going to do.

What different has Sanjay got out of you besides a great sexy body in a bikini in Kidnap?
That's exactly what I thought. The idea of wearing a two-piece is great but I'm getting kidnapped and a kidnapper is going to put me in a dark corner. Then what's different about my role?

Then he gave me the script to read and it's not as if I was getting kidnapped and put in a corner and she periodically comes out and creates a tantrum. It's not that at all. She is a very integral part of the story.

She and the kidnapper form a very weird bond, which is different. So, Sonia isn't just a fancy prop in the film. She is someone who is giving a hard time to Imran because on the one side, he has the father and on the other side, he has this rich spoilt brat to take care of.

Kidnap at one point of time was going to be shelved after Sanjay Dutt's imprisonment. What was going through your mind?
We all were extremely worried. Ultimately, this is a film. At the end of the day we were worried that we knew Sanju baba was a part of the film before he got arrested. So you do think about the film being shelved or not.

Then you pause and think. Wait...this is a human being we are talking about. Projects take off and sometimes don't. It's a part of life and even the biggest of actors have got their films shelved for whatever reason.

But this was a human being we are talking of right here and that was more important. Suddenly Sanju baba's trials, which we all used to read about in the papers, became humanised to us because we were a part of it.

The tragedy hit us and we started to think that this can't be happening to us. Please don't do this to him. Sanju baba has seen enough. Kidnap, the film, was secondary for us at that time. Sanjay Gadhvi was very categorical that he had written this film only for Sanjay Dutt.

He said, 'I have waited for four years for his dates, which means that tomorrow whatever happens, there will be only Sanjay Dutt playing the role of Vikrant Raina and nobody else'.

I love to see you in pain Minissha. Don't get me wrong. I'm talking about that one second scene in the trailer where Imran grabs your neck. Was it painful?
It was a beautifully shot scene, I should say. Imran would be very scared and he would gently hold my neck. I said to Imran that I have to resist you.

So if I'm going to resist Imran, he will have to hold on to my neck and grab it as if he was going to break it. He was like - Are you sure? I said, 'Imran, just go for it'. If you're going to grab my neck thinking that you're not going to hurt me, I'm just going to break free and the scene would look weird.

Imran is such a non-violent person that for him to do this role was really tough because he had to beat up a woman, he had to be cruel, he had to be physically violent, etc. I had to beg him that it was OK if he hurt me.

If he grabs my neck and it hurts, I'd love it. After the scene, he apologised to me too.

Is it the right time then to tell all the leading ladies of Bollywood, 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'?
October 2 shall tell them.
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