I’m going international: Bipasha
Noreen Aslam

MUMBAI—Bipasha Basu has finished shooting for Abbas-Mustan’s “Race” and is now busy looking at several international scripts.
“‘Race’ has shaped up so well in spite of the delay. I’m looking forward to its release. It’s my first comedy. As time passes I’m getting greedier by the day. So, yes, I’m looking at scripts from abroad,” Bipasha said.
“Within a month I’ll be signing my first international film. Time? I’ll make time for it if it’s worth my while. English is a language I’m very comfortable with.
“And the one thing that I’m very strongly going to oppose is any effort to slot me as an Indian with a sing-song voice, in any international project. If I were willing to play the stereotypical Indian I’d be doing Wes Anderson’s ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ and so many other projects that have come my way. But I want to play mainstream normal characters in the West, not an ethnic Asian person,” she said.
Bipasha’s beau John Abraham is playing a non-Indian in Deepa Mehta’s “Luna”.
“Yes. To have a global diction certainly helps. Any filmmaker that I’ve met abroad has liked my voice. The way I speak is what they liked the best about me. Everything is in-sync sound out there. So a correct voice and diction is a major battle won,” the actress said. “There are so many really beautiful actresses from (South) Korea and China who have failed to make the grade abroad because of their thick accents. I don’t want to unlearn my language. Whatever parts come my way from abroad don’t need me to change my voice or personality in any way,” she added.
Meanwhile, in all probability, Bipasha Basu’s first international project will be a Mughal historical featuring Ben Kingsley and Aishwarya Rai. And she will play Shah Jahan’s devoted daughter Jahanara Beghum.
“Yes, there’s another role in the film,” Bipasha reveals. “And Ben Kingsley has asked me to do it. We’ve already spoken about it. And now we just need to work out the dates.” While Aishwarya and Kingsley will play Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan in the film on the building of the Taj Mahal, Bipasha says, “There’s a very special character which Ben has asked me to play.”
The idea of Bipasha being part of Sir Ben’s production was discussed when they met at the 7Wonders event in Lisbon.
“We hit it off like a house on fire. Ben’s so much fun. And when he offered me this role I was fascinated.”
Back home, Bipasha is amused by rumours of differences with fellow-Bengali Soha Ali Khan. “Now where did that come from? I don’t even know Soha well enough to be snubbed by her. What are we supposed to be fighting about? And, please, nobody snubs me. I’ve met her a couple of times outside Mumbai. But we’ve never met in Mumbai. I really don’t know where these stories come from. And I think it’s silly to even react to them.”
On the work front, Bipasha has just completed Abbas-Mustan’s “Race” with Saif Ali Khan and is looking forward to “Goal” with John Abraham.