Sizzling Eesha Koppikar – note the name change from Isha for numerological reasons – has six, yes count them, six new movies lined up. Perhaps like Bipasha, the 32-year-old ‘Khallas’ girl is aware that sadly there aren’t so many good roles for Bollywood women once you hit thirty and beyond – it’s best to get as many in the bag as you can before the first grey hair emerges.
The first of these in October is Hello based on the Chetan Bhagat blockbuster One Night At The Call Centre. She plays the role of Isha, desperate to kick start her fashion career as a means of escape from her current life into one of fame and fortune. “My role in the film is meatier than my character’s in the book,” says Eesha.
The ever versatile Eesha will then be seen in Ek Vivah Aisa Bhi, where she plays a singer followed by Hello Darling where she plays a working woman in a comedy. Eesha, who was recently a judge at the Miss Universe contest in Vietnam, then goes on to appear in Har Pal, where she is an air hostess and the greatly anticipated Shabri where she plays the role of a gangster. Finally, in Right Ya Wrong, she will be a sexy interior designer.
Eesha is particularly excited by Shabri, where she has been made to look ugly! She plays the part of a rural girl who works her way up through the underworld by being a little bit meaner and nastier than all the men around her. A special make-up paste was created to de-glam her looks. “No one really likes looking dirty, ugly and non-presentable. I remember my van said Shabri on it – it didn’t say Eesha Koppikar. A lot of people on set within the vicinity saw me getting out of the make up van, getting onto the sets and getting back to the van said, ‘who’s this ugly jharoovali, who’s the heroine of the film?’ But that’s half the battle won because you are in the character – when you get into the skin of the character, half the battle is won.”
Eesha will always be known as the Khallas girl for the stunning item number she did in Vivek Oberoi’s Company. However, she has made her own mark as a lead or first supporting actress in Bollywood with movies such as Darna Mana Hai, the creepy Krishna Cottage, the sexy Inteqam, the funny 36 China Town, the exciting Don, and the fun and controversial lesbian thriller Girlfriend.
How does Eesha see her career developing in the future? “In the past few months I have been very focused and passionate about my work,” she says, “I have got six releases lined up for this year and they are all of different genres. I want to go the Aamir Khan way. I want to do less films but with substantial roles in them.”
