Minissha Lamba

Minissha Lamba has come off as a mature actress so far. But for the first time you will get to see something sexy in her. You'll have to watch Kidnap to actually find out what difference she creates in the film.

Q. Is Kidnap a powerful film?

All characters are powerful in the film. The role I play of Sonia is a seventeen-year-old girl who is estranged from her father. Her parents are divorced and her constant fight with her mother is that she wants to meet her father. She is rebellious. It has made her a tough girl. Sonia is just waiting to turn eighteen so that no force can stop her from meeting her father. So it was one of those days when a regular fight gets escalated to the point where she storms out of the house and how when she gets kidnapped, the entire change of events is set into motion. How finally her father has to come down because the kidnapper will only speak to her father. Now she has a double mission to get out because her father is finally here and she is trapped in this house with a kidnapper. So now, she is going to make the kidnapper's life a living hell. Such is her power.

Q. There's a lot said about your white bikini outfit in the film. Why such a big issue?

I don't know. You know, I've not been a big film buff. But I think in the seventies, we did have makers and an India which was very progressive. Then the 80's and the 90's were like the dark ages, which reflected in the cinemas as well. The quality of cinema went down. Now we have a very popular culture and the bikini is back in business. We wear equally sensuous Indian outfits as well. But when you wear a bikini, the westernised form of the ultimate sexy minimalistic outfit, there is a lot of curiosity out in India because we feel that the Indian women are shedding their so called shackles which are representative of conformist clothing. Then you have actresses like Aishwarya, who've gone completely gorgeous in Dhoom 2, you've got Esha Deol and Bipasha Basu who're seen clad in a bikini. The recent was Kareena Kapoor in Tashan. So there is nothing that stops me from doing the same. Especially when you've got a vehicle that is going to present it well. When you have Sanjay Gadhvi coming to you and saying that I'm going to make you wear a bikini - you're not going to say no to it. When you have Sanjay Gadhvi coming to you and saying that I'm going to make you wear a bikini - you're not going to say no to it.

Q. What if some other director comes to you and asks you to wear a bikini in his or her film?

You know what; the whole novelty of doing it is wearing it once. What's the point of wearing a bikini in my next film release after Kidnap?

Q. How did Sanjay Gadhvi manage to kidnap you for the film?

It was very simple actually. I was called for a general meeting at Shree Ashtavinayak's office, who are the producers of this film. I was then introduced to Sanjay Gadhvi. I didn't know that he was signed by the producers. I had no idea about a film called Kidnap. I had no idea that the casting for such a film was happening there. Sanjay started talking and eventually it turned out to be a work meeting. We spoke about the film and he told me straight on that this is what I'm looking at doing. You'll have to loose weight, you'll have to wear a bikini and you'll be dressed in ultra glam clothes. Are you up for it? That's what I like about his honesty. He put his cards on the table and said that this is it. I don't want trouble later on. I don't want you saying that this wasn't told to me. So if you're OK with it, we'll proceed. I had just seen Dhoom 2 then and didn't we just love Aishwarya in it? Couldn't we not take our eyes off Hrithik Roshan? So how could I say 'No' to Sanjay Gadhvi? I was ready...ready for the change.

Q. Kidnap at one point of time was going to be shelved after Sanjay Dutt's imprisonment. What was going through your mind?

We all were extremely worried. Ultimately, this is a film. At the end of the day we were worried that we knew Sanju baba was a part of the film before he got arrested. So you do think about the film being shelved or not. Then you pause and think. Wait...this is a human being we are talking about. Projects take off and sometimes don't. It's a part of life and even the biggest of actors have got their films shelved for whatever reason. But this was a human being we are talking of right here and that was more important. Suddenly Sanju baba's trials, which we all used to read about in the papers, became humanised to us because we were a part of it. The tragedy hit us and we started to think that this can't be happening to us. Please don't do this to him. Sanju baba has seen enough. Kidnap, the film, was secondary for us at that time. Sanjay Gadhvi was very categorical that he had written this film only for Sanjay Dutt. He said, 'I have waited for four years for his dates, which means that tomorrow whatever happens, there will be only Sanjay Dutt playing the role of Vikrant Raina and nobody else'.

Q. Is there any action in Kidnap?

See there are a lot of confrontation scenes in the film. The action is mainly between Sanju baba and Imran Khan. Plus I wasn't there to see the action as I wasn't a part of it. So can't really tell you how much of the action is there in the film. Also, I haven't yet seen the film.

Q. What are your expectations from Kidnap?

That people should love it. It is going to be one of the very few dramatic thrillers coming out of Bollywood. It is one of the very few films that have come out in this genre. It is an extremely well written film. It's got Sanjay Gadhvi. It's got Imran Khan who has been loved in Jaane Tu and its got Sanju baba after a sabbatical and of course...it's got me in a bikini. Aren't these good enough reasons to go and watch Kidnap?