How often do you surf?
I got hooked on to the Net when I was in school. A lot of friends would surf on shell accounts but I'd always use the TCP/IP accounts and be stuck to the Internet all the time. I have two to three accounts for junk mail, acquaintances and friends who are abroad and usually keep in touch via email. Off late, when I'm shooting, I don't get much time. But once I'm at home, I go online for a few hours at least. I enjoy chatting on messengers like MSN and ICQ. But I'm not a Web site person at all: I don't like surfing.

What do you enjoy doing on the Net?
I enjoy chatting. I chat for at least two hours with my pals all over the world. I was gifted a Web cam by a friend who wanted to see what I looked like :) It's great fun to actually see the person. But on days when I really want to chat, I turn off my Web cam. Otherwise the entire conversation centers around physicality with comments like 'Oh, you've put on weight' or 'You are looking so cute!'

What I hate, though, are the sidey messages I get while chatting, especially the ones that say, 'I want to make friendship with you!' I just ignore them, but the beeps get painful especially on ICQ!

What do you like and hate most about the Internet?
I like the ease of communicating on the Internet. It also helps me a lot with work. When I was modeling, and even in the initial stage of being in Bollywood, I would often communicate about contracts, scan pictures and even get story lines emailed to me. It saves my producers and me the trouble of flying all over the country to get me to sign on the dotted line.

What I hate about the Internet is spam flooding my inbox. When I don't clean it up, important mail also gets automatically deleted. The other thing I hate is connecting. There are times when the pages are so slow, I could shower and be back and the page would still be downloading!

Have you ever been ego surfing?
Of course! It's amazing to see articles or feedback about your films on the Net. A lot of friends have also told me how people download a lot of my screensavers especially after my debut film Tum Se Achha Kaun Hai. What I also admire is the persistence of my fans, some of whom have tracked down my email addresses and sent me mail.

What worries me though is that my pictures could get misused. I pray every time I'm online, that I don't get to see or read about my pictures being superimposed on a nude body. That would freak me out!

What do you want to learn to do online?
I used to avail of dialpad.com to make international calls. Now I want to figure out Net telephony. However, what I've read so far is confusing. I wish these Net telephony calling cards would become popular so that I can buy and use them easily.

Is there a Web-based gadget you would like to own?
It would have to be a laptop. I wish I could carry one when I shoot. But that's something my parents would never gift me. They consider the computer to be their biggest enemy. Whenever I have any free time, they think I spend it on the PC, hooked to the Internet. They would rather I spend that time on shoots or at home with them!

What is you idea of a perfect Web site?
I'd love to have a Web site about myself for my fans. It would have a lot of information, pictures and the latest news about my shoots, my movies and what is happening on the professional front. However, it would be a problem to update it myself, so I'd love to have someone do it for me.

Whom would you like to chat with online?
Enrique Iglesias. I loved Hero and I would love to know how he wrote such beautiful lyrics. I would even like to show him some of my work and hope he could set it to music :)

Another person I'd love to chat with is Julia Roberts, to get some acting tips from her.

Also Read:
-- Jimmy Shergill on fast cars and slow connections
-- Dipanita Sharma is dumbstruck by the Big B
-- Richa Pallod enjoys ego surfing
-- Aamir Khan likes to play chess online
-- Madhu Sapre logs on to check the party scene
-- Sameera Reddy is a Net junkie
-- Madhuri Dixit lives on the Web
-- More in Celebrity Surfing