What Bipasha has going for her

Ronjita Kulkarni

Bipasha is the talk of the town.

Her debut, Abbas-Mastan's Ajnabee, did not fare well at the box office. But Bipasha got rave reviews. Her next film, Vikram Bhatt's Raaz was the first hit of 2002. One of the reasons for its huge success was the actress herself. She carried the film entirely on her shoulders.

This light-eyed girl from Kolkata came to the limelight when she won the Ford Supermodel Contest at the age of 17. She took to the ramp, ads (Close-up, Lakme, Pantene, Calida underwear range and Siyaram), and featured in a couple of music videos including Sonu Nigam's Tu, from his album Kismet.

The actress has already created waves in the industry for her beauty and talent. Says debutant director Vipul Shah, "I had gone to Fire And Ice (a popular nightclub in Mumbai), to meet Akshay Kumar, who was shooting for Ajnabee there. At the time, Akshay had signed on for Aankhen. I saw Bipasha walk out of the studio towards her van. I knew right then that she had to be in my film."

Model-turned-actor John Abraham thinks of Bips (as she is fondly called by friends) as ever smiling. "Bipasha is always smiling. Very jovial and cooperative. But I don't know her as an actress yet." John will be starring opposite the dusky beauty in Vikram Bhatt's Aitbar.

More than those cute dimples, directors and distributors are drawn to her doorstep because of her reputation as a committed and professional person. Vipul Shah says, "A song sequence in Aankhen needed Akshay and Bipasha do some mountain-climbing in Cape Town, South Africa. Akshay has done it many times before, so he's quite used to it. Bipasha hadn't. And we were running out of time. So she decided to do it at one go, which is quite commendable. Both of them were in the mountain cables for almost three hours. That shows her level of commitment. I would love to have her play a character in my next film."

Bipasha has a long way to go before she can be any kind of competition to Kareena Kapoor, who is comfortably the highest paid and most sought after actress today. Distributor Vimal Agarwal observes, "A film may not sell because of her [Bipasha]. But she will definitely be an added benefit in the film. So far, she has been very lucky for all her films."

As trade pundit Indu Mirani says, "Bipasha does not have the 'typical' heroine looks and so hasn't reached the top as yet. But Kareena is no competition --- they are different kinds of actresses. Bipasha will go the Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi way --- the glamorous way. A film like Qurbani would be ideal for Bipasha."

Bipasha has enough potential to reach the top. Trade expert Dinesh Raheja states, "The industry needs fresh faces. Besides, Kareena is too expensive."

What the 23-year-old Bipasha has going for her are her earthly appeal, sensual looks and great voice. Dinesh adds, "Besides, Bipasha doesn't look awkward even though she's only two films old. Raaz was her baby. People went to see the film only because of her. Whether she's a crowd-puller or not, only time will tell."

Bipasha's costar in Raaz, Dino Morea, says, "She [Bipasha] is a brilliant actress. The fact that she believes in the supernatural may also have helped her in the film. I am glad I worked with her in Raaz. Since we already knew each other, it was easier --- we didn't have to break the ice."

Dino and Bipasha met each other in 1996, and had been dating each other. They will be working in another film, Marathi film director Amol Sherdi's Encounter together. Incidentally, this will be Amol's first Hindi film.

In the Hindi film industry, an actress (or even actor, for that matter) is as good as her last film. Says Indu, "One of the important reasons for Bipasha's popularity is her success in her last film, Raaz. That has made people forget all her past mistakes, if any. Besides, she was the underdog in Ajnabee, compared to Kareena. The industry has this tendency to root for the underdog."

Bipasha, for her part, is flooded with films, ranging from David Dhawan's Chor Machaye Shor (Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty), debutant director Ajay Chandlok's Nehle Pe Dehla (Saif Ali Khan), Ab Kya Hoga (Aftab Shivdasani), Amol Sherdi's Encounter (Dino Morea), and Vikram Bhatt's Aitbar (Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham).

She also has a guest appearance in Vipul Shah's Aankhen, which releases Friday.