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Raima Sen’s on a roll these days. In a short span of one year, she’s had two film releases, worked with Mira Nair in one of her short film on AIDS, is shooting for Aparna Sen’s next, is “carefully reading a couple of scripts to choose the best”. Flying high, is she? “No,” she smiles,”My feet are firmly planted on the ground, and my head’s firm on my shoulders.These are two things about me that will never change, no matter what success life brings my way,” she says.

She flicks an errant strand off her face and adds,”But I like the way Indian actresses’ fame is soaring these says. Ash’s on the list of the world’s most beautiful women, Shilpa Shetty’s made her name internationally, and now Bipasha’s been to Lisbon and back.” And, when does Raima plan to go international? “Let me make my mark in Bollywood first,” she counters.

Is that why she’s deliberately chosen to tread the art cinema path these days? She hasn’t signed up a commercial flick for some time now, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd was her last. “But, I am happy with what I am doing. An actress has to be an all-rounder,” she says. And that means? “That critical acclaim is as important for me as commercial success. I want to be a fine actress and a famous actress,” says Raima.

So, what’s she doing these days? Raima leans closer and whispers,”I want to let you in on a secret.”What? “I have just begun to read the first Harry Potter book. And, I can’t understand what the craze is all about.” She’s joking, right? “No. And no, I haven’t seen a single Potter movie yet. My friends have been after me to catch the latest Harry Potter flick, but I will first read all the books, and then move on to watching the movies.” Looks like Raima’s got a whole lot of reading to do, to begin with!

We needn’t say much about this Bong babe’s talent - she manages to find a perfect fit everywhere. In fact, one often wonders why actress Raima Sen is so under-utilised in Bollywood movies. And after having worked with the good directors like Pradeep Sarkar, Rituparno Ghosh and Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the gal goes ahead and signs up films with newcomers too. Currently she’s doing a film called Manorama - 6 Feet Under by debutant director Navdeep Singh, which has been apparently shot in a record time of twomonths. “I feel as confident working with a newcomer, and Navneet is known to me. If we actors don’t give new people a chance in the industry, how will we ever know how good or bad they are?” exclaims Raima. We totally agree with you!

The Sen sisters are truly sensational. While Riya is a great mix of looks, hotbody and oodles of sensuality, Raima Sen is not far behind in that area. In fact, she’s a notch above, with all that talent and acting prowess. But c’mon Raima, that doesn’t mean you can afford to let your body go awry. She performed at a recent awards function; we liked the performance and all that bit, but the slight paunch that was visible didn’t go down well. Unless of course that’s for you next role, in which case we understand it’s all in the game. Otherwise, we think you should take a tip or two from Riya, whose always picture perfect. What say, Raima?

The latest buzz doing the rounds is that Raima Sen and Sammir Dattani are a couple, apparently, it was Sammir’s presence in Mani Shankar’s Mukhbir that prompted Raima to accept a small role in the film. “What rubbish!” exclaims Raima. “I accepted the role because I liked it; not because of Sammir, though Sammir did call up and request me to do it so that we could work together, which we haven’t after the music video we did seven years back. Sammir is a good friend but except for speaking on the phone occasionally, we have not even met up once in all these years. I was shocked when a friend messaged me in Bangkok about these rumours doing the rounds” avers Raima who is very excited about Anjan Das’ Bong Connection. “It’s the first Bengali crossover film being made and I’m looking forward to it, for it is about the issues faced by our generation.” Initially, this film was supposed to see Raima and sis Riya together for the first time on screen, but that could not happen due to Riya’s date problems. “Pia Rai Choudhary is doing her role and her,” says Raima.”