“Emraan regrets that I was his half-sister” – Bipasha Basu in conversation with Koimoi

Bipasha Basu is going all out for ‘Raaz 3‘. Well, this may sound like a clichéd statement but when it comes to the actress and her upcoming release, this pretty much holds true. Right from the very beginning of the film’s shoot when Mahesh Bhatt was a constant support system for her to the days of shooting when Vikram Bhatt and Emraan Hashmi worked hand in hand with her to the promotional campaign kick-start that saw elaborate write-ups being written about her, Bipasha Basu has been on a roll. Now that the D-Day is arriving, Bipasha is elated, if not exhausted.

Exactly a decade after ‘Raaz’, it is ‘Raaz 3’ which is all set to release. Time for some nostalgia to be revisited?
Lots of it (smiles). I think what’s nostalgic is the fact that I am working again with Vishesh Films after so many years. We worked together for some more time after ‘Raaz’ as well but that film stays on to be special. Also, the film is extra special because of my reconnect with Vikram Bhatt. He is one of my dearest friends in the business and is that one guy who told me to focus as an actress.

But weren’t you anyways doing films?
Not really. See, during the making of ‘Raaz‘ I was in two minds that whether I should be doing more films or go back to the college. I was doing ‘Ajnabee‘ also around the same time but post these two films I didn’t really have any roadmap defined for Bollywood. Vikram was the one who made me confident enough to realise that I had talent waiting to be tapped and I should be taking myself more seriously as an actress.

Guess the actress in you is pretty much waiting to unveiled with ‘Raaz 3’….
Well, Shanaya has been was my most exhausting role ever. It has not just pushed me as an actress but also as a human being. The space in which I had to perform was very difficult. In real life too I just don’t known anyone like her. She is so dark and for me to play her and focus day in and night out on that character was something.

It must have been tough….
Yes, it was and honestly, I just wanted to finish this film faster than ever (laughs). Yes, the film was something interesting but it was too much for me to absorb on a daily basis. There was no breathing space either as you would see Shanaya in me from the very first frame of the film. There is no building up phase per se that could have given me any breathing space.

I hear from Emraan (Hashmi) that it was the same breathing space that he too was hunting for right through the film. Looks like ‘Raaz 3’ was tough for him too.
I think his role is the toughest in the film since he is stuck between loyalty and love. What is most terrific thing about him as an actor is that he is very expressive even when he doesn’t have dialogues to mouth. He can be just present on a frame and still convey a lot through his looks. (Laughs) He still regrets the fact that our ‘Footpath’ didn’t work and his logic is that the film failed because I was his half-sister in the film! We are trying to make up for that now!