No more item numbers for Koena
Noreen Aslam

BOMBAY—Bengali bombshell Koena Mitra came into limelight with her item number Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karein in Road. Now, the Gladrags Supermodel 2002, Mitra has landed in Bollywood with her first lead role in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (EKEH). Prashant Singh speaks with the actress at an “exciting phase of her career.”
You must be thrilled with the lead role in EKEH, your first full fledged role.
I am thrilled because the film is fantastic and has been packaged wonderfully. And I am very happy with my role in the movie because it had a lot to offer where I am not playing only a glam doll. It’s much more than that. After getting recognised in the industry, this film was the kind of jump I was looking forward to. According to me, director Suparn Verma has done a marvellous job with the film.
Didn’t it bother you that the role was a Bipasha Basu reject?
Not at all. It didn’t even enter my mind at any point during the making of the film. My producer and director didn’t discuss these things with me. So it hardly matters to me. I got to know that there were some date problems with Bipasha. That’s it. Anyway I am happy I got this chance to do the film because everything boils down to who finally did it. That’s what matters.
What about item girl tag?
I don’t like to be trapped in the image of an item girl. In fact, I find it to be very degrading. I am not going to do any more item numbers in my future films. They don’t help you because they eventually disappear from the public memory. So, no more item numbers for me.
What kind of roles are you looking forward to?
I would love to experiment with different kind of roles. Something that challenges me to give my best performance. I want roles which can surprise both me and my audience. As an actress, I wouldn’t like to tie myself down to a particular kind of image.
Was the item number in Road a milestone in your career?
I don’t look at the song in such a light anymore. Earlier, I would have said yes, but today I don’t think so because I had no plans to make a career in movies when I did that number. It was more like a music video for me. But unfortunately, I got tagged as an item girl.