Bollywood Zone : Blog, Movies, Celebs

She’s busy shooting in New Zealand for her international film Love Has No Language, but Celina Jaitley still can’t seem to rid herself of Indian stalkers. Apparently, the beauty found herself being incessantly followed by a fan there, recently. The man apparently took pains to find out where Celina was shooting everyday and kept making attempts to meet her. “I was quite irritated with him initially,” reveals Celina. “But I learnt later that he was an honest fan of mine. He sweetly showed me a scrapbook that he had made which had all my photographs and interviews neatly archived. And all he wanted was for me to autograph the scrapbook.”

Actor Celina Jaitley may be looking hot and may have done some hot scenes in her recently released film, Red. However, the actor is hot – literally speaking. She hasn’t been keeping too well and was down with the flu. However, this didn’t dampen the gal’s spirit. Celina not only actively promoted her film, but also chose to be a sport and play holi when her body temperature was soaring high. Let’s hope her enthusiasm brings a lot of colour to her life and to others.

Star fans are crazy. We all know that. Then there are the obsessed lot as well. Ask Celina Jaitley. The ‘Janasheen’ babe has been literally harassed by her fans in the past few weeks. She, however, hasn’t lost her cool yet. Neither has she filed a police complaint.

“I have been getting so many calls that at one point I decided to change my cell number. The problem is that they don’t talk. They are happy simply listening to my voice,” says the actor, currently shooting for Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Red’. These calls, says Jaitley, are mostly from North India. “They are from Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gorakhpur and other such places. I haven’t taken the calls seriously because I realised it’s only fans who are bothering me. I like attention, of course, and I like being loved. But I don’t like harassment and disturbance,” she says.

Jaitley has of course begun avoiding the calls now with an interestingly-devised tactic. “I save the numbers from where I get the maximum calls in the F series – like I save it as F1, F2, F3 and so on. Once these numbers flash, I don’t answer the call at all,” she says. Hmmm, really interesting!

Celina Jaitley was in news recently when her friendship with Kashmeera Shah turned sour. But the actress has no reason to worry… She has two new friends now. In fact, Celina can’t stop raving about her new-found buddies, Preity Zinta and Sushmita Sen.

“Preity Zinta is like my elder sister. We bonded really well during our world tour, although we have not worked together in films yet,” says Celina. While on the tour, when the organisers treated Celina badly, Preity came to her rescue (Celina was given an ordinary hotel room while most of the actors were provided suites). “She is outspoken and stands up for what she believes in. I am thankful to her for speaking up for me. She could have stayed out of it since I am only a newcomer but she didn’t.”

Although the two stars are back in town now and busy with their respective assignments, they have kept in touch with each other. “We exchange SMSes and once in a while even talk to each other. Cat-fights between actresses are often heard of, but we have never had any disputes,” she says.

As for Sushmita Sen, who she befriended on the same tour, Celina says, “She is one of the most straightforward persons I have met. She is unpretentious and affectionate. I know her since my Miss India days.”

Incidentally, Celina and Sushmita speak in Bengali when together. “We both used to chat in Bengali at the slightest opportunity, and Preity would get irritated. She’d say, ‘I am feeling like an alien amongst so much mishti talk!’ It was a lot of fun,” says Celina.

So, did she make friends with Sush’s boyfriend Manav Menon? “Hmm… keep guessing,” she smiles.

However, her personal life is not the only thing that is keeping Celina going. She is also is excited about her forthcoming films. “Last year No Entry was a hit, and this year Tom Dick and Harry also did good business at the box-office,” she says. The actress will soon be leaving soon for South Africa, for Suneel Darshan’s film. Then there is Sangeet Sivan’s Aapna Sapna Money Money where she plays a con woman. She is also busy completing the last schedule of Vikram Bhatt’s Red with Aftab Shivdasani. Incidentally, she has signed Vikram Bhatt’s next film too.

She’s known for her cool fundas – whether she’s quizzed about her bikinis, boyfriends or Bollywood rivalry – Celina Jaitley has a smart one up her sleeve at all times. When we asked her how she felt when a certain section of critics and audiences termed her last release Tom, Dick and Harry as crude, the lady surprised us with her reply. “Today whatever sells is what works for everyone. We actors often end up doings films that don’t turn out as expected. Tom, Dick and Harry was a very different script initially, and what it turned out to be was completely different. It catered to a certain genre of people. Their sense of humour is different, and they aren’t looking for intellectually challenging films. A lot of things that don’t make sense entertain the masses,” Celina says.

Celebs usually do their bit for the right cause and generally do the right thing. But for actor Celina Jaitley, she’s certainly doing the ‘clean’ thing! Apparently, the lady is a cleanliness freak and can’t stand anything out of place or not in order. “I’m like Monica, in the show Friends,” laughs the actor. She also wants to hire a team of sweepers to clean up the area around her building. “I never allow anyone, including my staff, to litter anywhere. We have to keep this city clean,” she adds.

After the fight between actor Priyanka Chopra and her manager Prakash Jaju it is now actor Celina Jaitley who is having trouble with Jaju. The latter had been managing her work. Celina says they decided to part ways mutually, but that decision was reached at after a string of unpleasantness while dealing with Jaju. “He was never around when I needed him. He was always busy in another part of India and was extremely hard to work with. I went through a lot of trauma while working with him. My lawyers are currently dealing with the legalities of this issue,” says the actor.

So has she found a replacement for him? “As of now, no. I haven’t hired anyone to manage my work. I’m getting over this problem first.”

She belongs to Bollywood‘s sexy brigade, but Celina Jaitley is not an item-gal. While there are certain sections of Bollywood who believe that dancing on world tours is against their philosophy and it’s not what an actor is meant to do, there’s a larger section that thinks otherwise. And for them performing on stage in front of thousands of fans is a real high. Celina who is recently back from a whirlwind tour says, “The tour was absolutely rocking. We were working at such break-neck speed, that I could do with a few days of vacation in America. It was my third tour in three short years of being in the industry, but I’ve not had such an amazing time ever. It felt like we were dancing for a living, literally.”

When are you settling down?

I’m not planning to settle down. The concept of settling down for me is being settled down in work and career. I have a house and three puppies. I don’t have any intentions of getting married in the next few years and the reason for this is not my work! It’s just too much and too serious a commitment to handle now.

You are seeing California-based businessman Sean Teague…

Sean is a very good friend and I know him for many years now. But I hardly get time off for myself, let alone him!

What is it with your attraction to foreign men?

I come from a mixed cultural background. I’ve travelled all my life. My grandfather was the military attaché to Vietnam and my grandmother works for the UN, so I’ve associated with many cultures and nationalities. Settling down has nothing to do with a person’s nationality. I have to spend my life with a man and not his passport. My last relationship was with a foreigner and people think that I have a problem with Indian men. I am Indian after all! I can’t help where I lose my heart. I’ve studied in Hindi medium schools as well as international schools.

So what does the road ahead look like?

I have always been concerned that a man who comes into my life in the future won’t feel overwhelmed by my persona. It’s a very real concern for me. I’m quite a romantic. I’ve grown up on a diet of romance novels!

There were rumours that you had acted pricey and didn’t attend the Tom, Dick and Harry party…

Some people made an issue of me not attending the party but I was in the US shooting for a film at that time. How could I fly for 22 hours to attend that party? I haven’t spoken to the director and the producer about this matter. I guess it’s best to just be a bit thick skinned. It’s not about publicity, it’s about being maligned. I was not acting pricey. I’m not a party person so I don’t like attending these events. My work schedule is really tough. Earlier, such talk used to annoy me, but not anymore.