After creating ripples in the country with her controversial photoshoot, actor Neetu Chandra is back in action with six releases this year. In an interview with TOI, the actor speaks about her films, controversies and the industry. Excerpts from an interview... Six releases lined-up this year. You must be very busy? This is a busy and exciting year for me. I’ve been part of great films and some of them are releasing this year. So far, the films I’ve done have fared well at the box-office. From Garam Masala (my debut) to 13B and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! all my movies have been appreciated by the audience and critics alike. Traffic Signal won a National Award too. So, I have a lot of expectations from my next releases as well. So how has the industry treated you so far? The industry has been very kind to me. Initially some people were really mean. But I must thank them for that, because hadn’t it been for their hypocrisy and negativity, I wouldn’t have been here today. There have been times when a few directors refused to meet me when I went to their offices. Today, those same directors want to sign me up for their films. It’s funny what a few hit films can do. But I’m not a vindictive person. I don’t ask them why they refused to meet me earlier, nor do I remind them I was the very same person. I let bygones be bygones. Is your latest bikini photoshoot an attempt to move away from a set image in the industry? I don’t really have an image in the industry, thanks to the kind of films I’ve done. If I was a seedhi-saadhi girl next door in Oye Lucky!..., I played a housewife in 13B. In fact I wore a bikini in my first film, Garam Masala. It’s all part of an actor’s versatility. It’s not easy to get into a bikini. One has to work hard on fitness. I hope people appreciate that. Your last photoshoot had raised a hue and cry with people calling it ‘vulgar’ and ‘lesbian’... People who created the controversy are the ones who love watching semi-clad women. If you don’t like, don’t see it. Why create a ruckus? What have I done to deserve that? I haven’t kissed, smooched or body rubbed anyone in my films. We were just trying to recreate the Ajanta-Ellora scenes in a subtle way. I think people should thank me because after the controversy, more youngsters came to know about the Ajanta and Ellora caves (laughs). See, I don’t really care about what people say, I approach work with a very professional attitude. We keep saying Bollywood actors should do Hollywood films but the moment an actor wears a bikini, it becomes national news. It’s time we move on and behave like mature individuals. But it did manage to generate a lot of publicity for you... Well, at least I managed to gain that publicity through my work. I don’t have a rich and famous boyfriend and neither am I a home-breaker to be in the news. If you look around, you’ll see that there are so many heroines in Bollywood who make news for the wrong reasons. Not only do they make news, they even manage to bag the right offers even if they don’t deserve it. There are also so-called superstars who can’t act! But I’m here on my own and will make it big on my own accord. I want to be the superstar who can act. -TOI
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