Discussion Related to Rajeev's Bollywood Career!!! - Page 3

And Lekha Washington seems to be getting her way, with her B-town break being opposite Rajeev Khandelwal.

ARRIVED: Lekha Washington

She's been called the Mandira Bedi of the Indian Premier League after her stint as a TV host for the tournament last season. Now, the vivacious Lekha Washington is all set to be the next southern sensation stepping into Bollywood, after Asin and Shriya Saran. She will be seen playing the female lead opposite Rajeev Khandelwal in Peter Gaya Kaam. Lekha describes her role in the film in three words: fun, powerful and physical. "And almost 60 per cent of the film depends on me," she says.

What was it like working with Rajeev? "He's a great co-actor — intelligent and chilled out. The film includes some stunt scenes, for which we've been rehearsing together. It's very exciting," she adds.

Hailing from the Tamil movie industry, Lekha says that people in Mumbai recognise her as the glam IPL anchor. Asked how different Bollywood is from the Tamil industry, Lekha says, "Bollywood is a lot bigger and certainly more challenging."

With Asin tasting success and many others venturing into Bollywood, what does the competition mean for Lekha? "I don't bother about competition. I don't have time to keep track of the debutants but I certainly feel the pressure to prove myself. I don't believe in looking at others but proving my worth. That's what I'm here to do," she asserts.

So, having got the look, is she going for glam roles or character-driven ones? "The one thing I'd never want is to be stereotyped. I want to do everything under the sun. I'd love to do something like Lara Dutta's role in Billu, but I'd love to do glam roles as well," says Lekha. "But the look has to suit my character and the role. Glamour without a cause is pointless," she adds.

Now that she's jumping on board the Bollywood bandwagon and vaulting into the big time, how is she going to handle it all? "I prefer to be in the spotlight," says Lekha, adding, "I think one knows what they're up for when they come here. I don't believe in living in a shell, but going out and grabbing all the attention I can."

Art house films are no longer meant only for a niche audience, as they are fast turning into money-churners. PT does a cash count.

small is the new big: A still from the film Luck By Chance

If you were to take a closer look at the films that made a mark at the BO of late - A Wednesday, Aamir, Mithya, Dev. D, Bheja Fry, Dasvidaniya, Rock On!!, Luck By Chance, Billu and Shaurya - you'd see some shining examples of art house cinema. Today the boundary lines between art house and mainstream Bollywood cinema is blurring. So much so, that leading faces from Bollywood have trekked over and become an indelible part of art house films. And yes, the box-office returns of these films are enough to make the filmmakers/production companies laugh their way to the banks.

Abhay Deol, Gul Panag, Irrfan Khan, Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Neetu Chandra, Konkona Sen Sharma and Farhan Akhtar are some of the faces that are lighting up and making a difference to 'reality' films. Farhan made his acting debut in the small film Rock On!!, setting the cash counters ringing and got loads of critical acclaim for Luck By Chance, his recent flick. Vinay Pathak made a successful second coming in films thanks to Mithya and Dasvidaniya. Irrfan's small screen career led him to art house films, and later Life... In A Metro, The Namesake and this year's Billu. Rajeev Khandelwal, television's poster boy, chose to make his debut on 35 mm in the off-beat Aamir winning accolades galore. Konkona, a typical art house cinema darling, has been straddling commercial cinema as well along with her off-beat, realistic films. Glam girl Neetu Chandra, who'd made her debut opposite Akshay Kumar in the laugh riot Garam Masala, has made the switch to meaningful films from Traffic Signal to Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!.

The youngest Deol on the B-town block, Abhay Deol, is already being hailed as the face of art house cinema, having done films like Socha Na Tha, Manorama Six Feet Under, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! and the most recent Dev. D. Neha Dhupia who's done hardcore commercial films before has also made a convincing balancing job with meaningful films like Mithya and Dasvidaniya, Bipasha Basu is doing her first ever art house film Pankh.

"It's a good trend that we are trying out different subjects. Thankfully art house films are selling today," feels actor Shilpa Shetty. Agrees actor Sonu Sood, "These days every form of cinema and artiste have their own audience. People are open to experimentation now."

Many industry people believe that art house films are recovering money and doing well because of multiplexes. "There was always a niche audience for small, art house films, but I think the multiplexes have done real good to us," says actor-director Rajat Kapoor.

In the end, nothing sells more than success. If art house cinema has its takers then filmmakers will feel like making more such films.