Amrita Singh

Vickey Lalwani, TWF, Bollywood Trade News Network

A marriage gone sour needn't be an end, but a beginning- just like it is for Amrita Singh, who is looking ahead for her comeback film SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA, which releases on May 25. Over a hot cup of tea, Singh chatted with Vickey Lalwani at her Belscot bunglow in Lokhandwala.

How did SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA happen?

Sanjay Gupta sent me a script on one of the stories in his forthcoming film DUS KAHANIYAN. Two days later, he called me up to say that he would rather prefer if I played Vivek Oberoi's mother in SHOOTOUT AT LOKHANDWALA. I told him I had no issues because I always believe that an actor is determined by the age he/she portrays on screen. Haven't I played a heroine with Vinod Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan who are old enough to be my father? Bachchan and my dad were in college together (pauses). Then came a hitch.


What was the hitch?

Gupta said that he wanted me to play a rough ambitious Maharashtrian Aai from a lower middle class family. I asked him 'How would I look the part?'. He replied 'I see you in that'. I shot back 'But I don't see myself in that'.


Why couldn't you see yourself in that?

I am used to Western clothes and high heels. I couldn't see myself in cotton sarees and tied up rough hair. It's not a deglamourized role but in fact more than that. Plus, I had to speak with a Maharashtrian accent in a coarse and abusive language. I don't speak that way and I don't know Marathi.


And then?

Apoorva Lakhia (director) came home. That man is a charmer. Plus, he is intelligent. He sold the story to me in a jiffy (smiles). I enjoyed working with Lakhia. He was crystal clear about everything. He has treated the subject very well. He has brought out the interaction amongst all the characters and this was imperative in a multi-starrer like Shootout.


What is the ambition in you in Shootout?

I am the motivating factor for my son (Vivek who plays real life gangster Maya Dolas) going up the wrong path. If Maya Dolas became a criminal, it's because of his mother in real life. I even asked if she is alive and we go to see her, but these guys said 'No. Stay out of that zone.' This mother hero-worships her son basically because he saved her from her abusive husband by killing him, when he was a 9-year-old.


We heard, you beat up some actor in the film?

Oh yes, I have a scene where I beat up a machiwallah. It was not a cheat shot and I think I got into the character a bit too much. I hurt his hands and face (smiles). Lakhia called me up from the editing room and joked that he was blessed that he was not playing the machiwallah. All in all, I gelled very well with all the guys in the film and am very happy with my role and the film.


You play an ambitious mother in Shootout. How are you as a mother in real life?

I am not ambitious, for I wouldn't let my kids (Sara and Ibrahim) to become terrorists when they grow up (laughs).


What do Sara and Ibrahim want to become in life?

Ibrahim keeps changing his choices, but Sara is very clear in her head that she wants to become an actress.


Can you and Saif get back together again?

No.


Can you marry again in life?

Never. Why do I need a permanent man in my life now?