Following the success of All The Best, Bipasha Basu’s fans are desperately longing to see her in Pankh, the movie in which she plays the alter-ego to Maradona Rebello and appears as in a variety of poses as a sultry seductress. Director Sudipto Chattopadhyay has modelled Bipasha on the legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren’s whose screen image he sees as eternal and with Maradona not being an established star, the film’s initial attraction is going to rest on Bips’ shoulders. “I didn’t set out to project Bipasha as a fantasy in a dirty manner,” says Sudipto, “But her hot look has certainly helped us promote the film.”
One of the problems being faced by Pankh, however, is that with the backlogue of movies in the can following the multiplex dispute, it’s struggling to find a release date, especially as it’s unusual plot is unlikely to have mass-market appeal, so fans of Bips may have to wait a little longer. Meanwhile, her Bengali film for Rituparno Ghosh, Shob Charitra Kalponik (Afterword) was screened to applause last weekend at the Osian Film Festival in Delhi. Bipasha is extraordinary in this movie about the strength of a woman both inside and outside of her marriage. The movie will also be screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa next month.
Despite her very public image, Bipasha is a very private person and says doesn’t like to be in the limelight. “I always keep a low profile when I don’t have a film up for release,” she explains, “I talk to the media only when a movie is about to release because I don’t really know what I can talk about otherwise. You are either working or travelling. I don’t go for parties, so I am not really visible on the social scene much either.”
