Bipasha to stars: do issue-based films for free

Bipasha Basu, who was just seen in “Lamhaa” and is now getting ready to do a film on honour killings, feels issue-based films should be made with small budgets to make them “commercially viable” and stars shouldn’t charge any fee to work in them.

“Don’t charge any money for working in such (issue-based) films. It’s the only way to make issue-based films commercially viable,” said Bipasha, whose “Lamhaa” dealt with the problems in Kashmir. But it couldn’t earn enough profits at the box office.

“After ‘Lamhaa’ I am tempted to tell a committed filmmaker like Rahul Dholakia to make out-and-out commercial films. Or if you make a film on a social issue then make sure it doesn’t go over-budget.

“It’s shameful that ‘Lamhaa’ was so costly. If it was made for Rs.4 crore, it would have been a hit. When a mainstream actor does a film on a social cause, it should be done free of cost as a sign of commitment to society,” she added.

The actress has signed another issued-based film titled “Aakrosh” about honour killings. She plays a schoolteacher in a tradition-bound village and wonders how audiences would react to the movie.

“The social issue, honour killings, is treated like a thriller. Even ‘Lamhaa’ was treated like a thriller. But how many people went to see it?”

One of the main reasons to sign the film was to get rid of the glamour girl image, says Bipasha.

“For me, the interesting part of doing ‘Aakrosh’ was to see how far I can get away from my glamorous image. I discovered it was easy for me to do real characters. The director Priyadarshan is a delight to work with. And my co-star is Ajay Devgn who is a good dependable actor. I’ve another film ‘Mr Fraud’ with Ajay directed by Abbas-Mustan which got stuck. I don’t know if that will ever release.”

She will be spending a lot of time in Goa in the coming weeks. First, she will shoot her fitness video on the beaches quickly before winter sets in. Then she will shoot a remix of title song for Rohan Sippy’s “Dum maro dum”.

The copyright issues with Dev Anand and his film “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” have apparently been sorted out. Pritam Chakraborty is all set to record a new version of the Asha Bhosle classic.

To some extent “Dum maro dum” too touches on a social evil – it takes up the issue of drugs.

“I can’t talk about it right now. But when it happens it will happen. Give it another two weeks,” said Bipasha.

Talking about her fitness video, she said: “I want it to be shot outdoors in Goa. Winter gets too crowded. And I’ve a film to shoot in September. So I’ve to rush the video. I am going crazy doing my calorie counts. This time I’ve no team. I am doing everything on my own. It’s a little boring to do it by myself. But I’ve always been a loner.”

And, yes, all is well between Bipasha and John Abraham.

“If god forbid, anything were to go wrong between me and John, he would be the loser, not me.”

John apparently has plans to insure his body parts, but Bipasha isn’t doing any such thing.

“I’m a body person and I am definitely into fitness. But I’d never insure any body part. He’s welcome to do what he likes. I just want to know which insurance company is insuring his butt.”