Purva Bedi: "I love Indian men more than I hate them.&q

[Nokia]

She’s got no fever; but she’s hot! Born in India and brought up in New York City, she is literally ‘American Desi’. Purva Bedi, better known as the ‘Nina’ of ‘American Desi’, finds herself frequenting India more often now thanks to the rising popularity of crossover films in this country. Besides the bhel-puri and vada pav , the Hollywood actress finds promoting her film, ‘Green Card Fever’ in her motherland to be an interesting experience.

“I was born in India and I’ve grown up in New York City for most of my life. I have been acting in the States for a long time now. ‘American Desi’ was so successful in India that I suddenly find myself returning to my country again and again to promote and release my films,” says an animated Purva Bedi. Perhaps India does have that effect on many who plan to return to their roots. But, no, Purva is not going so deep. She’ll return to America to pursue a successful acting career. Her next film, ‘Green Card Fever’, is about a young man’s illegal pursuit of a green card. “He (Vikram Dasu) comes to America, overstays his visa and does whatever he can to try and stay in the US. He is very naïve, gets caught up in a whole bunch of scams, goes to court, lands up in jail and in the process he falls in love with Bharti - which is my character,” explains Purva.

“As Bharti, I am the polar opposite of my character in ‘American Desi’. In ‘American Desi’ I am the India-loving NRI girl; in ‘Green Card Fever’ I am the India-hating NRI girl. That’s because of the way my parents treat me - in terms of always trying to set me up with Indian guys, sending me to these big conferences where I can meet Indian men. And so I just can’t stand Indian men. I keep thinking that they want to marry me only for my green card, till I meet the character played by Vikran Dasu and he breaks all of my expectations. We really connect. He’s really gentle and sweet. We fall in love with each other and surprisingly he doesn’t want to marry me for my green card. Actually, he’s so naïve that I doubt he has figured that out,” avers the actress.

Considering this real-to-life subject that the film deals with, it must be scary to emotionally trust any Indian man there. “Probably, I don’t know. I personally have not come across such a situation. But I certainly know of people – NRI men and women – for whom the green card is definitely one more asset. And they do try similar ‘marriage plans’, but not with me,” confesses Purva. The artiste also adds that this is what makes it such an identifiable film. “I have no expectations from the film. One never knows... With a movie, it really is what touches people and you never know what will touch someone; it’s so subjective. But I certainly hope that audiences in India find a connection, because there is great universal appeal. We all know someone who has gone through the process of trying to get a green card.”

So what is Purva’s opinion of Indian men? Does she love them - like Nina of ‘American Desi’ does - or does she hate them - like Bharti of ‘Green Card Fever’ does? “In that way, I am more like Nina in ‘American Desi. So, yes, I think I love them more than I hate them,” she says.

With films like ‘American Desi’, ‘Bend It Like Beckham’, ‘Monsoon Wedding’ and ‘East Is East’ doing well all over the world, Indian filmmakers abroad are investing their time, money and talent into making crossover films. And who better than Purva to relate to such stories? “Ya, I think I do have a real duality. I was born in India and raised in New York. So I really do often find myself juggling and balancing the two cultures. But I love that. I feel that both cultures are very rich and there are wonderful things to take from both of them,” she says. “I find it interesting that because of the whole crossover funda and success in the international markets, Bollywood movies seem to be moving towards an international appeal and are increasingly keeping the international audiences in mind. But I wonder if they are getting a little watered down in that attempt,” she muses.

The Indian film industry couldn’t have missed a beautiful Indian-born actress, and not offered her an opportunity to become a part of their industry. “No, they haven’t missed it at all. I have gotten some offers. But I am really looking for something fabulous for my debut. I am definitely open to doing Indian films, but I’m awaiting the right projects,” she concludes.