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Controversy’s favourite child Mika Singh is back. And this time it’s not Rakhi Sawant, but Tanushree Dutta and Koena Mitra, with whom he allegedly had some issues. We heard that Mika along with Tanushree and Koena were scheduled to perform for a New Year’s party, at a 5 star hotel in Mumbai. And accordingly the three of them were rehearsing, when a TV channel landed up and wanted the three of them to pose together. While Mika was more than happy and willing to pose, Tanushree and Koena apparently refused to pose with him. “Both the girls refused to come out and pose with Mika, as they didn’t want a repeat of the infamous Rakhi Sawant controversy,” our source said.

Her seductive act in ‘Raqeeb’ may have raised quite a few eyebrows but actor Tanushree Dutta is not willing to get trapped in a set image. Soon to be seen in the laugh riot, Priyadarshan’s, ‘Dhol’, Tanushree is also set to start working in a children’s film.

Tanushree says, “I have done films belonging to different genres-the romantic ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’, the thriller ‘Chocolate’, a campus flick ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’, the dramatic ‘Raqeeb’ and now the comedy ‘Dhol’.”

Will she be sporting a new look for the children’s film? “Yes, the character is required to be on the lines of Lara Croft (played by Angelina Jolie) in ‘The Tomb Raiders’ series. I will soon be enrolling for training in the martial arts required for this role,” she reveals.

Tanushree also informs that the children’s film too would be full of special effects, animations and will carry a spectacular look. She adds, “I have now managed to extract time to watch a few DVDs of films that my sister had got for me. Imagine I hade never seen ‘Polar Express’! When I saw it, I was simply awed. It has some fabulous special effects.”

While an announcement about other details of the film is expected to be made soon, Tanushree adds that the film would remain honest to its genre and would stay on to be purely a children’s film sans any romance or drama.

“What’s the point in doing so?” she questions while explaining, “It’s better to make your point rather than explore unnecessary angles that hardly add to the plot.”

Talking about ‘Dhol’ which arrives on September 21, Tanushree warns, “Don’t expect ‘Dhol’ to be just a comedy. There is a dhol in the film, which plays an important character apart from all of us. In addition to laughs there is also a suspense element in the story that will bring on the thrills.”

‘Dhol’ has Tanushree playing a rich girl who has the four boys, played by Tusshar Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Khemu and Rajpal Yadav, besotted by her.

Tanushree Dutta is in a mood to experiment. The sultry actress best known for her dare-bare flicks (think Aashiq Banaya Aapne and Raqeeb), is now ready to do comedy and is even involved with a children’s film. Despite provocations in the form of catty comments by an industry senior, she’s refusing to react and says nothing matters in life right now, but work. Romance and love are on hold as well(her painful breakup with Aditya Dutt is a topic she won’t like to discuss anymore). So, here’s Tanushree uncut…

Experimenting onscreen:
I believe every actor should do different roles so that he/she does not become typecast in a particular image. After doing a negative role in Raqeeb, I will be doing comedy and action in my forthcoming releases. Doing action stunts was a terrifying and, at the same time, a thrilling experience. I am also looking forward to Priyadarshan’s fun film, where I am wooed by four men. In real life, it could be a very scary prospect!

The ’sexy’ tag:
I don’t care about others’ opinions of me. It did bother me as a newcomer. But not anymore. Right now, I am doing work that interests me and with people I am comfortable with. What’s more, with each role, I’m proving my talent.

Food, food:
I am a complete foodie. I love cooking and usually try to experiment with various cuisines. And, while Chinese food is my favourite, it is butter chicken that I am nuts about.

Another Imelda Marcos?
I have a fetish for shoes and jewellery. Whenever I see footwear that appeals to me, I usually buy it. I may not always wear it, though.

Travel bug:
I love travelling. Especially, with friends and family. I usually travel whenever I get time. In India, Goa is my favourite place. I also love Hampi. I find it fascinating. Dubai is a very charming place. During the Dubai Shopping Festival, I shop till I drop. I also like London. It is a great place especially during Christmas. The weather at that time is great.

Shopaholic:
Yes, I am one, but it is only in matters of shoes and jewellery. Its almost like an addiction.

Endorsements:
I have been getting a lot of endorsement offers ever since I joined the industry. Recently, I became the ambassador for a jewellery brand. It was my very first endorsement. I agreed because its collection was fabulous and something I could relate to.

‘Classical’ beauty:
I have started training in Kathak. It is an important part of my fitness regime. Although not many people know, I am a trained classical vocalist. As a child, I was trained for six years in Hindustani classical and Rabindra Sangeet.

Hot Bod:
I follow a very simple schedule to stay in shape. I go to the gym, I dance and eat right. And, I do not deny myself the pleasures of food. But, I rarely binge.

Tanushree Dutta is turning out to be a shopaholic - she’s been on a shopping spree for designer wear these days. The reason is that she has been on a fitness agenda. Besides hitting the gym to burn her calories, she has also been learning Kathak, which has toned her body completely.

She now looks like a million bucks with her svelte figure. Tanushree discovered that she has to replenish her wardrobe, since her clothes don’t fit her anymore.

So Tanushree literally had to refurbish her wardrobe. Though it has cost her a bomb, she’s not complaining. She seems quite pleased with the trade off!

We all have our secret passions and Tanushree Dutta’s no exception. The actress is learning Kathak with a vengeance. And she’s training under a pandit (a Kathak exponent) who has been specially training Tanu for the last six months. The actress religiously wakes up every morning at five and practices for two to three hours a day - it’s also her way of keeping fit. “I’m learning Kathak because it is a fine form of dance which not only keeps me fit, but it’s also great for my body. I have learnt it in school and I’ve gone back to it. It brings a lot of discipline into your life, and Kathak also adds a lot of grace to a woman,” she says. That we can certainly see from her performances, right?

Your recent films haven’t done well. Do you regret doing the kind of films you have done so far?
I will never regret doing a film. Though I may joke about my films when they turn out to be disasters. It’s just that in hindsight I like to analyse where I went wrong, so that I can be careful the next time. You put your level best when you do a film, but sometimes things go wrong. All you can do is keep working and hope for better results next time.

Do you mean to say, it doesn’t affect you when your films flop?
So far it hasn’t affected me. But I know it can’t become a habit (laughs). In that sense, an actress has an advantage over an actor - even if a couple of films don’t do well, it doesn’t affect an actress as much as it would an actor’s career. But then again I shouldn’t make it a habit (laughs).

You definitely have a sense of humour
I guess I have a good sense of humour because I have enjoyed the kind of work that I have done. If you have done something again and again and still failed then you may regret doing the film you are doing, but that’s not the way it happened in my case. And that is the reason why I don’t regret what I have done.

Which genre is your forte comedy, action or thriller?
I’ve done comedy, a negative role, a college kid role, romance… personally I wouldn’t want to stick to one genre.

They say sex sells. Do you agree?
I think that belief is outdated. These days sex only sells in porn films. Otherwise I think people have become totally bored of the sex quotient in mainstream cinema. It’s always been like that - there was mainstream cinema and there was sex cinema. Somewhere in between they got all mixed up. None of us has been spared from that phase. It was selling at one point in time. I know of a big film which also had a sex scene, obviously it was portrayed more classily, but basically it was a part of cinema then.

What urged you to go in for a makeover?
After watching myself in ‘Raqeeb’ and ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’, I felt that I needed to work on myself. I had put on weight for a South Indian film. I needed to lose all of that. So I started exercising and improvised on my make-up, hair and costumes. Being caught up in too many things-films, endorsements and travellinga certain lack of indiscipline had crept in.

Tell us something about your new projects
My upcoming films are Priyadarshan’s ‘Dhol’ and Vikram Bhatt’s ‘Speed’. I play a girl-next-door in ‘Dhol’. In ‘Speed’ I play Zayed Khan’s love interest. I share a cute camaraderie with him. The role has no complications. It’s a fun film.

Is making inroads in Bollywood difficult without a sugar daddy?
It is difficult, not impossible. I may not have achieved much but I’ve made a place for myself. Initially, people didn’t have faith in me nor was there anyone to back me. But challenges give me a kick.

What is it that a heroine needs to make it here?
I’ve realised that versatility, publicity and presentation are very important. I have playing various roles-a campus girl (’Aashiq Banaya Aapne’), a seductress (’Chocolate’), a plain Jane (’Risk’), light-hearted characters (’Bhagam Bhaag’, ‘Good Boy Bad Boy’) and a negative character in ‘Raqeeb’. I also did the item number ‘Hichki’ in ‘Risk’. So now, I’d be the best choice for a big banner. I consider myself a complete package.

What should an aspirant remember?
One must be patient and strong enough to take both criticism and praise. One must be rock steady in the face of competition as this is the most competitive, most rewarding yet shortlived profession.

Can true friendships be formed in the industry?
Why not? I have formed some friendships that have stood the test of time. Some have gone sour too. It depends on the right people. In fact, I believe that two rivals can be friends too. I like strong people who give me competition.

How much importance would you give to a relationship given career pressures?
I am a hopeless romantic but right now I have no room for love. I see no sense in getting involved as I have many commitments. That phase of my life is over. A new one has started. Today, I’m even more ambitious than when I started. I don’t see myself getting into a relationship for another nine years.

What’s the finest thing that a man has told you?
That I have eyes that express every emotion!

Amrita Arora and Tanushree Dutta are no longer on amicable terms with each other. The actresses, who would earlier exchange greetings at dos, are now cold-shouldering each other. It all happened on the sets of Vikram Bhatt’s Speed, where the otherwise social butterflies decided to ignore each other. If sources are to be believed, they didn’t have any irrevocable differences as such. They just never mingled and later they took a dislike for each other.

The story goes that Amrita would bond with other cast members including Aftab Shivdasani, Sanjay Suri, Zayed Khan and Aashish Chowdhry, while Tanushree would keep to herself on the sets. This led Amrita to interpret Tanushree as ‘the not-sofriendly actress’. Tanushree, however, felt that she was sidelined by the others. After a day’s shoot, other actors would often go out for dinner together while Tanushree would head home alone. Adds our source, “Tanushree had complained about it to another co-star who told Amrita about it. Finally it ended up with both of them taking a dislike to each other.”

When quizzed about it, Tanushree Dutta said that she barely knows Amrita anyway, and they hardly shot together. “I don’t know Amrita well, I’ve only met her a few times at social events,” she said.

Recently Priyan signed Tanushree Dutta as the female lead for his forthcoming film Dhol. The actress was delighted about playing a pivotal role in Priyan’s film. Of course, there is such an expression as ‘too good to be true’ and Tanushree discovered the full impact of it when she earned some wellmeaning criticism, er… on the megaphone.

On the first day of the shoot, Tanushree arrived on time and Priyan’s assistant briefed her about the scene and the dialogues. Once she put on her make-up and entered the set, Priyan had a near apoplectic fit. An eyewitness says, “When Priyan saw Tanushree walk into the studio, he screamed at her saying, ‘What have you done? Go and wash your face!’”

Tanushree was taken aback at this, especially since he wasn’t being very subtle. In fact, he was screaming at the top of his voice, says the eyewitness. Immediately, Tanushree ran to her van and returned in 15 minutes without any make-up. “Priyan was extremely happy to see her without makeup,” says the eyewitness.

Tanushree laughs about the incident, “I was really shocked when Priyan shouted at me. I wondered what had gone wrong with my face. I guess he wanted a completely non-glamorous look. I had given instructions to my make-up artist to apply just base make-up, yet Priyan was annoyed. When Priyan asked me to wash my face, I had this impression that he didn’t like my make-up. But soon, I understood that he didn’t want any make-up. I had to clean my face, all the while asking myself why I had wasted two hours on it! When I reentered the studio sans make-up, he looked satisfied and we started shooting for the film.”

Incidentally, Tanushree is not the first actress who has come under the scanner for overdoing the make-up. Priyan did the same to Tabu during Virasaat and Kareena Kapoor during Kyonki.