Nisha Kothari doesn't pray to get movie offers

"No, I'm not adding extra 'a' and 'k's to my name. Nor am I visiting a dozen deities for my well being," says a laughing Nisha Kothari, Bollywood's new star denying rumours that she is getting progressively religious and superstitious to salvage her career.

"My parents and I just visited one temple. In any case, I'm not answerable to anyone except my family. What I do with my life is entirely my business."

Crying foul against charges of misconduct on the sets of Aditya Dutta's "Good Luck", Nisha says: "I've never in my life abused anyone. Stories of my bad behaviour on the sets are growing. I no longer find these rumours funny.

"I've never shot for any film called 'Good Luck'! I've met the director just once at Keshu Ramsay's office and that too for half hour. I couldn't give them the dates they wanted. I said no to 'Good Luck', and maybe some people didn't like that.

"I had no choice. I was committed to a Telugu film and I didn't want to wriggle out of it."

About her role as Basanti in Ram Gopal Varma's "Sholay", she says: "I just finished dubbing my role. I have seen Hemaji in the earlier 'Sholay' but my character Ghungroo is not like Basanti. We dress, speak and behave differently.

"Ghungroo is not dumb. She behaves like a man but she's all woman inside. She's a bundle of contradictions. Sometimes she's stubborn, then she's soft. There're so many different emotions to express in one character.

"I'm lucky to have got such a role so early in my career and to work with so many huge actors in one film! Wow! Many of them, I've been watching from the time I was a child."

The busy actress has just completed shooting for a Telugu film. "It's called 'Okkamagaru' with Balakrishnan, who's very hot in Andhra. I had stared my career with a Tamil film 'Jai Jai' with Madhavan. Now I've done a Telugu film.

"I don't care about the language of a film as long as it is a good film with a meaty role for me. I'd rather work in a regional film than sit at home waiting for Hindi films."
Indo-Asian News Service