She’s dropped her surname, shed a lot of lard and found new fans, including us AS MAKEOVERS GO, AMEESHA’S (SHE’S dropped the ‘Patel’) has been the most talked about. She has lost weight, has flat abs and yet continues to look curvaceous. In a way it all began with her ditsy act as Malaika, a woman with a love for short dresses, plunging necklines and the good things in life, in Kunal Kohli’s Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic released earlier this year. Though the movie turned out to be a turkey, for the dainty actress it was a big step forward. “I have got rid of the stereotype I was trapped in, that of a sweet Indian girl who can be sensuous but not sexy.”
The high point of her act in Thoda Pyaar… was an underwater romp for a song in which she urged co-star Saif Ali Khan to spend some lazy lamhe with her. Dressed in a hot yellow-coloured bikini she looked anything but cute, that one “exasperating” word often used to describe her.
“I have been working on improving my fitness levels and my body for the past few years.
I love good food and I cannot starve. Also dieting does terrible things to your skin and face so that was out of question.”
It’s not just the body that’s changed. It’s also the attitude. Ameesha has turned her back firmly on the past. She steers clear of any questions about her constant run-ins with other actresses, her affair with director Vikram Bhatt or her family. “For me, it’s like water under the bridge. I didn’t come from a film family. I did not know the etiquette of the industry, what you should say and what you should not. And I am outspoken. Looking back, I could have been a bit more diplomatic.”
It’s been eight years since she debuted in Rakesh Roshan’s Kaho Na…Pyaar Hai (2000), a film made for Hrithik Roshan. She got noticed and followed it up with a powerhouse performance in Gaddar – A Love Story in 2001. But the next couple of years produced eminently forgettable work until she salvaged a bit of her reputation with her comic act of a ditsy Delhi woman in Honeymoon Travels (2007).
She seems to be making a career out of playing ditsy women? “I had a small role in it, but it helped me get some more movies in the comic genre, like Chatur Singh Two Star with Sanjay Dutt, a Pink Panther-style comedy which releases later this year. How long could I cry? I was so thrilled to rid myself of the bottle
of glycerin.”
Life’s definitely looking up. She has got a steady boyfriend in London-based businessman Kanav Puri and has made some wise decisions, like investing in two homes in Mumbai. When she fell out with her parents a couple of years ago, Ameesha had no money and no home. Right now she’s looking forward to her next few releases and marriage, of course. “I will continue working, though. I may look at the production. Kanav is a hotelier and we may set up a boutique hotel.”
