I'm essentially quite a child: Sushmita Sen

Sushmita Sen says she is very unlike the diva she portrays on screen - she is still a child deep inside trying hard to pretend she is grown up while adopted daughter Renee is more matured, and this helps them strike a beautiful chord. "I'm essentially quite a child pretending to be a grown up in front of the world. I think she (Renee) is a lot older than me. She understands things beautifully," she said on the sidelines of a news conference hosted by Procter & Gamble in New Delhi Saturday.

"You should meet me in my house and see how I behave and then you will ask yourselves, is this the person we refer to as the diva, the actress? We (she and Renee) are different from each other and it is this that helps us strike a great balance."

The former Miss Universe has taught her daughter to be brave.

She said: "It is not easy being my daughter. She goes to school and then she gets to hear that she is not really my daughter, but she is very brave. When I adopted her she knew what being adopted means, so she knows that she is adopted and is handling it well with replies like she is born from the heart while everyone is born from the stomach."

The 31-year-old svelte actress, who has acted in around 30 films, is currently occupied with "Dulha Mil Gaya" with Shah Rukh Khan and Ram Gopal Varma's "Aag".

"Dulha Mil Gaya" is Sushmita's second film with Shah Rukh and she says it will show the world her real self.

"It is a complete entertainer from frame one to the end. We have really worked hard for it. I can assure you that you will laugh your lungs out," she said. "But the best part is the character I play in the film is essentially Sushmita."

However, the actress is more excited about her own production "Jhansi Ki Rani" and said the project is very close to her heart.

"It is a life story of a woman who made all impossibilities come alive," she said. "I feel that I know her and a film on her life is so relevant today as centuries later we are now facing issues on religion that are creating cultural barriers whereas Rani's greatest allies were Muslim pathans."

The research for the film's content is over and now they are working on the characterisation, she said.

"A terrain in China has been chosen for the entire cast to be trained. The production of the film is scheduled to start by the end of next year and will see its release in 2009.

"I feel with time we have forgotten Rani Jhansi and what she stood for. The film is not about glorifying a religion or something. It is about glorifying humanity and celebrating that. It is sad that history has not recorded most of her life.

"History has somewhere forgotten her. One will get gooseflesh after knowing what all she did and remember she died when she was just 28."

Often regarded as the style diva, Sushmita also said she became the producer of the film to have control over the execution of its content.

"I have spent a lot of time complaining in the industry that this should have been like this and this is not right. So I'm producing this film because I don't want to take any chance with it," she said. "Moreover, I feel that by being the producer, I will have control over the film and how it is made."

Indo-Asian News Service