All fired up

Nisha Kothari is set to sizzle as the tomboyish Ghungroo in Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag.

Will Aag do for Nisha Kothari what Rangeela did for Urmila Matondkar? Ram Gopal Varma's latest muse will certainly hope so. Aag is perhaps sultry siren Kothari's last ticket to fame after duds like James and Shiva. And Kothari's Ghungroo will surely invite comparisons with Hema Malini's Basanti.

Ask Kothari if she can live up to the expectations of a role immortalised by Malini and she responds instantly, "I don't think there can be any comparisons between both of us. My character is different from Hemaji's role in the original. I play a city character, very tomboyish and drive an auto, which is called Laila. Ghungroo is a major Rajnikant fan and literally worships him by pasting his photograph in her autorickshaw. It is entirely different from Hemaji's Basanti character, who was a village belle."

On a more candid note, Kothari adds, "To be honest I can never play Hemaji's character the way she did."

So how did she prepare for the role of Ghungroo? "I had to walk and talk like a Mumbai tapori (street style). Therefore I used to prepare by practising to smoke a beedi and that too in Rajnikant style. I had to learn how to drive an auto. Ramu's inputs made it easier as there was a lot of improvisation on the sets," says Kothari.

Kothari studied in Kolkata before moving to New Delhi for her graduation. Once there, she was bitten by the modelling bug, which eventually led her to films. Few know that Kothari started her career in a Tamil film Jay Jay, opposite Tamil heartthrob Madhavan. She was given the screen name of Amoga to appeal to Tamil audiences. "Given an option I would have preferred to use my own name, but it is too North Indian and did not suit my screen image in the South," she says.

Her debut film did fairly well, but she did not take up any more assignments in the South. "It was a great learning experience, but I always saw myself acting in Hindi films. The only way I could achieve this dream is by moving to Mumbai," says Kothari.

The rest, as they say, is history. Varma gave her a small role in his Amitabh Bachchan starrer Sarkar. He then followed it up with the heroine's role in James and Shiva. She also appeared in Darna Zaroori Hai.

Was there any special reason Varma took an interest in Kothari's career? "I don't think Ramu is a fool to invest money in me. If he is casting me in every other film of his, he definitely sees something in me. I believe that I have the talent to prove my credentials in all the films made by Ramu," she says.

As for the rumour mills working overtime, all Kothari says is "I just simply choose to ignore them."

Aag will surely have some hot songs considering Kothari's penchant for steamy numbers in most of her films, including a raunchy dance track in Mahesh Bhatt's The Killer. Kothari is defiant. "I have no problem with little exposure if it is within the parameters of the role and the film's subject. I played a bar dancer in The Killer, which required costumes with revealing outfits. Sensuous numbers always tend to have sexy costumes. In Aag I have a steamy song sequence with Ajay Devgan. It is part of the script, so I am fine with it."

Varma has a knack of working with new talent, be it actors or actresses. But it his new female finds that attract the most attention – Urmila Matondkar being a classic case. Aag may catapult Kothari to tinseltown stardom or reduce her to an item girl, but one thing is certain, she will be noticed.