'Nobody has the guts to say anything about Kareena'

Says Chitrangada Singh about her alleged link ups with Sudhir Mishra, director of her just released flick Yeh Saali Zindagi

After having stunned the audience with her subtle performance and dusky looks in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Chitrangada Singh is back to once again sizzle on the silver screen with Yeh Saali Zindagi. MiDDAY caught up with the Delhi girl. Here are excerpts:


Chitrangada Singh and Irrfan Khan in a still from Yeh Saali Zindagi

How do you react to your alleged link ups with the director Sudhir Mishra time and again?
It is absolutely ridiculous how
people can say or write something about my personal life without knowing me. There are camps and associations in Bollywood. Nobody has the guts to say anything about a Kareena Kapoor or some other star as they are from here only. But when a Chitrangada works with the same director twice then there are link ups. It is very unfair and uncomfortable. But this isn't going to stop me or him from having a professional association in future.u00a0

In Yeh Saali Zindagi your character is seen to have switched between two men similar to what we saw in Hazaron khwaishein. Do you come from a school of thought where love outside marriage is not a
'forbidden entity'?
I feel that circumstances make you stray from your marriage and you seek love outside marriage. In this movie my character is cheated by her love and then she meets another guy who loves her intensely. But she makes it clear to him that just because he is helping her out, she would not fall in love with him.

One can't be generic about his/her opinion on straying in marriage. For instance, stealing is bad but if a man steals for his hungry wife and child, it can't be termed 'bad'. Likewise, love outside marriage also has different reasons for different people. It isn't justified to go and seek love outside marriage but one can't be generic about it. It has no moral stamp. My character in the movie is not apologetic to anybody and is high spirited.

What are your future projects?
I am working with John Abraham in my upcoming film that is based on live-in relationships and I also have a project with Akshay Kumar.

Tell us something about your character in Yeh Saali Zindagi.
I play a middle class woman who has a good voice and wants to be a
rockstar but as the plot unfolds, my character is seen changing partners.

What did you like about the script?
The movie shows how far both the actors (Irrfan Khan and Arunoday Singh) will go to get the woman they love and how sometimes one screw up can set everything right. My character falls in love with the wrong guy who cheats on her and then another man (played by Irrfan Khan) enters her life, loves her unconditionally and helps her get out of the problems.

What struck me was that there was not just a hero's love story. There is a bad guy and his love story is just as beautiful as the so-called hero's love story. The bad guy (played by Arunoday) is really weak in front of his wife. What I liked was that there was nobody in extreme ufffd nobody is too bad or too good. Even the hero, played by Irrfan, is also not a person who is all good. So is the girl I play in the film, she is also not all nice. She uses guys when she wants...So everyone is in-between and there is no good or bad.

Your unconventional pairing with Irrfan Khan has also attracted a lot of praise from both critics and the media...
I think it is a very unlikely pairing, which has its own beauty. My character is very emotional whereas Irrfan plays the role of a reserved person and one who has a calibrated approach. In the movie also there are certain scenes where my character is with Irrfan physically but is
concerned about her old flame.

In a four-film career, you have earned the reputation of playing unconventional characters. But somewhere do you intend to do commercial cinema?
Oh yes! I have commercial aspirations too. Definitely, I would love to be a part of commercial cinema. Who would want their movies to be watched by just 25-30 odd people in the theatre (laughs)? But I am quite choosy as far as scripts are concerned. For me a commercial movie has to be something like a Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge or Jodha Akbar.
But I guess today movies like Udaan and Tere Bin Laden have fared quite well despite small budgets and with no big names. The reason why these movies are doing well is that today the viewers too want sensible cinema. What Aamir (Khan) has done by
associating himself withu00a0 movies like Dhobi Ghat is incredible. Superstars need to come forth and take up
such scripts.