Boston to Bollywood

It took Hrithik Roshan, the latest Bollywood sensation, a double role to steal the hearts of millions. But, his ``heart- throb'' in `Kaho Na Pyar Hai' (KNPH), needed just one.

Though it was the hunky Roshan who stole the limelight in the post-KNPH days, Amisha Patel has more than half a dozen reasons to be happy and busy. In Chennai for the `mahurat' of her first Tamil film `Enna Vilai Azhage' opposite Prashanth, Amisha takes time off to talk to Sudhish Kamath about her life beyond KNPH and also about success, hardwork, love and films.

SHE HAS never been here before, but for a brief tour long ago. This time too, with a loaded schedule, she wouldn't be seeing much of Chennai. So what brings her down South?

``The script is very good. I'm looking at this as a learning school. I get to learn a lot more here. And films are made a lot quicker here,'' comes a confident answer.

The bundle of energy was soon chatting away to eternity. `Eternity' is what her name means, she reveals. ``My Dad's name is Amit, my Mom's name is Asha. That's how I got my name.''

By now, she's lost track of the interviews she has given. Almost the same questions everytime. And the same answers too. ``I'm not playing stereotypes. My role in each of the films I'm doing is different. In this film, I'm playing a college girl who is Indian at heart who values family ties and tradition. I choose the roles only if I can relate to the character.''

So how much could Amisha relate to her KNPH role? ``She falls for the second Hrithik because he helps her find out the first guy's killers, he is compassionate. She realises how much He loves her and she does not want to lose her love again,'' she says.

Having started talking about love, Amisha believes that it is love that brings out the goodness in a person. ``Love is the only thing that keeps the world going around. It makes you a better human being. It makes you a creative person,'' she says.But, aren't the roles given to heroines purely of ornamental value and they have very less scope to perform. ``Yes, but it depends on the script. Most of the films are hero-oriented films. So not all films can have scope for heroines to perform,'' says Amisha.

Amisha knew all the while, when she signed KNPH that it would be a Hrithik film all the way. ``If my Dad were making a film to launch me, how would he make the film. So it's very understandable if the film was a total Hrithik film,'' she explains.

So would her Dad have launched her into films? ``No way. When I first told people I wanted to do films, there was World War III at home. My father packed me off to the US. I come from a family with a political and business background. So they were very much against my acting in films.''

Why? ``I finished my studies...seven years in the US and a Gold medal in Economics from Tufts University, Boston''. ``Roshan Uncle who was my Dad's classmate asked me to do the role opposite Hrithik. It took a lot of convincing. It was easier because he was a family friend. The inhibitions soon disappeared. Once I managed to cross that hurdle, there was no looking back ,'' she recollects.

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