There is no Basanti in this ‘Sholay’: Nisha Kothari
From Noreen Aslam

NEW DELHI—Ram Gopal Varma’s latest muse Nisha Kothari, who plays a motor-mouthed village belle in his “Sholay” remake, says “there is no Basanti” in this film. “Ghungroo is a totally different character from Basanti. There is nothing that I can take from the yesteryears’ ‘Sholay’. In fact, I will say there is no Basanti in this film,” Nisha told newsmen.
In Ramesh Sippy’s “Sholay”, Hema Malini played the role of a tonga driver called Basanti but Varma’s version has an auto rickshaw driver in Nisha. “Ghungroo is an auto rickshaw wali (auto rickshaw driver) and the name of her auto is Laila. She is very arrogant and carries loads of attitude. She smokes a beedi and constantly tries to prove herself as a man. She is the one who is taking care of her parents,” adds Nisha.
For Nisha the experience of driving a three-wheeler was very exciting. “I learnt driving the auto from an auto-driver. It was scary but at the same time a very funny experience.” “I go for dance classes in the morning and prefer commuting by auto. That interaction with the auto rickshaw drivers helped me a lot,” she adds.
While a number of controversies lurk around Varma’s “Sholay”, the young actress who is trying to make her presence felt in the Hindi film industry, says there is nothing wrong with making remakes. “When we talk about a classic, it is impossible to make it again. Even today, if you see “Sholay”, you will find the movie and the characters so young. But it is the love that you have for the movie that encourages you to retell the same story again. And there is nothing wrong in paying tribute to a movie by remaking it.”
Nisha, who completed some part of her education in Kolkata, is not averse to acting in Bengali films. “Not now, but if the script is good I will definitely do Bengali films,” said Nisha, who has signed a Telugu film as well. Her next release is director Manish Srivastav’s “Go”, in which Nisha will be seen with debutant actor Gautam. Varma’s production firm - Factory - has produced the film.
“In ‘Go’ I am playing the role of a teenage girl Vasundhara. She is a very innocent and funny girl who has a boyfriend (Gautam) but she is so immature that she doesn’t remember saying I love you even once to him in the entire movie. “Even if she is in some trouble, she doesn’t understand the gravity of situation and laughs it off. I will say she is a little cracked,” adds Nisha.