Rudraksh - Bipasha Basu

Bipasha Basu: "Rudraksh' is about spirituality going hand-in-hand with science!"

Do you think after ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ the Indian audience is more open to science fiction films? And is that why you have taken up films like ‘Rudraksh’ and ‘Jaane Hoga Kya’?

Bipasha Basu: “We have definitely seen ‘ET’ in the past. But for 70 per cent of our population who don’t see English films, ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ has opened the doors to science fiction, but not for people like us. I don’t think that’s the reason I took up ‘Jaane Hoga Kya’ and ‘Rudraksh’. Actually, ‘Jaane Hoga Kya’ started much before ‘KMG’. It’s unfortunate that it is releasing a little late, because it got delayed in the making. I think it is a director’s prerogative. If you want to make a science fiction film, make it; if you want to make a comedy, make it; if you want to make a film on sharks, make it. I don’t think it was because of ‘KMG’ specifically. That was more of a children’s film. It was more because of the emotions that I liked ‘KMG’, than the jadoo part of it. It was Hrithik that made the film for me rather than the extra-terrestrial.”

What’s your role in ‘Jaane Hoga Kya’?

Bipasha: “I can’t talk about my role in that film. It is a very interesting story. It’s about cloning. Aftab (Shivdasani) is a scientist. You have to watch the film because it belongs to the thriller genre and I would be letting out the story if I told you more.”

Who gets cloned? Aftab or you?

Bipasha: “I would love it if I had a real life clone. Half my work will be done then and half my time I can enjoy. I’d do four films at one go. Two of my clones would be doing two films and I would do another two.”

What’s your next release?

Bipasha: “My next release after ‘Aetbaar’ will be ‘Rudraksh’, directed by Mani Shankar.”

What’s your role in ‘Rudraskh’?

Bipasha: “I play a researcher, a kind of scientist in ‘Rudraksh’. And I’m researching all the things that happen in the world, like spiritual healings. Like incidents where people get healed without even being operated upon. My character is researching all around the world and comes to Bombay, and meets Sunjay Dutt’s character, who is very spiritual and has healing powers. Basically he is my case study and the film progresses from there on.”

How was it working with Sunjay Dutt?

Bipasha: “He is a great co-star. I’ve done ‘Rudraksh’ with him. I started a film called ‘Nehle Pe Dehla’, which got stuck in the middle and I’m doing ‘Rakt’ with him. So I’ve done quite a lot of work with Sunju and I think he is a great person. He’s a great actor. I just saw ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ and I must say that he has really performed amazingly; it is one of my favourite films. For a long time I haven’t seen a film like that.”

Do you think ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ will walk away with the awards?

Bipasha: “I don’t know, because sometimes the criteria for awards are different. I think ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ was more popular. But I still think ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ is a sensitive film. There is a class of audience who will like it more. I personally loved it.”

We hear there is lots of SFX in ‘Rudraksh. So is it a science fiction film?

Bipasha: “It’s not science fiction. It’s more of mythology that we play with. We try to prove… definitely, me being a part of the film, I keep a watch on what happens spiritually. You have to see the film to understand what it is all about. It is about spirituality going hand-in-hand with science. What spirituality explains, science can explain it too in a rational manner. That is what we try to project in the film.”