Bipasha Basu has dismissed suggestions that the dropping of her character from Raavan was because her character looked like overwhelming Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Priyamani. “They were all rumours and only rumours,” she stated, “I was initially a part of Raavan but director Mani Ratnam thought he couldn’t do justice to my role. So he took a call instead of being in an embarrassing position later on. He decided to tell me that and we amicably decided that it should not be done. So now there’s going to be no Mandodari in the film.”
There are rumours that Bips has also backed out of the TV Diwali special Diwali Mela Dilon Ka. “Everything was set for the Diwali special, scripts were ready and the sets were done too,” said a source for the show, “Although she had agreed initially, Bipasha changed her mind in the end. She felt that an actress of her calibre was only meant for the silver screen, and TV was only for those who were insecure about their career in Bollywood.” However, Bipasha denies having even heard of the show.
Diwali sees the release of the comedy All The Best – Fun Begins with Ajay Devgan and Mughda Godse and soon we’ll see Bips in a multiplicity of avatars in Pankh with Maradona Rebello. “The fun part about being a movie star is that you’re actually an ordinary girl in an extraordinary world who gets to play some really outlandish roles and is idolised for these characters,” she explained, “I’ve hand-picked some really crazy roles but at the end of the day, I’m still a simple girl who goes to work, works out and returns home to her family and boyfriend.”
