Even though Komolika’ track in the serial is over now, heads turn knowingly at Urvashi as she walks into New Delhi’s Le Meridien hotel. “It makes me feel good as an actress. Even if you are hated, this also means that people remember you for your work,” reacts the chatty actress even as she settles down at the hotel’s coffee shop with a glass of cold water “to beat the heat”. Though a successful role often tends to typecast actors in India, Urvashi is quick to add that she harbours no such fear. “Tell me who has not been typecast? Even Amitabh Bachchan had been typecast. So who am I to complain?”

Now on a strict fitness regime, Urvashi says she prefers a clear soup and some plain salad for lunch. “My trainer always cribs that I don’t exercise everyday and eat insensibly. How do I hit a gym when I am shooting? You know how long TV shoots take,” she says, fishing for some support from you. As she would be staying overnight in Delhi, the actress sounds cheerful at the thought that she would be able to work out at the hotel gymnasium in the evening.

Not much of a fussy eater, Urvashi says, “On any given day, I like plain dal, roti and sabzi which five star hotels don’t usually keep. It is not that I don’t try out other cuisines but I take a lot of time in developing a taste for food other than typically Indian.” And then, flashing a broad smile, she drops the bomb! “Will you mind if I skip my lunch? I actually don’t feel like eating today.” Looking at your disbelieving expression, even as a lavish buffet waits in anticipation just two tables away, she adds this, “We will talk about food though.”

With her pleading eyes at work, you don’t have much choice left but to let her feed herself by just talking about it. “I am not a big eater though I am trying to take a heavy breakfast these days,” she says. She likes tasting good food but cooking has never been her interest. “For that, I bank on my mother,” says the actress with a giggle.

Urvashi has two sons who study in a boarding school. When they come home, the “new age mother” says with a lot of relish, “I make soups for them.” Though her kids, like most children these days, are not averse to pizzas and burgers, Urvashi particularly likes Punjabi, Gujarati and Mughlai food. “They are mostly oily but quite tasty,” she says.

Now appearing in the reality hunt, Comedy Circus on Sony TV, Urvashi says she is not involved in any other tele-show. Instead, she has just finished her first Bhojpuri film which got released recently. “It is a home productio n directed by an old family friend, Brij Bhushan. My mother is the producer. The name of the film is Saans Rani Bahu Naukrani. While the saans is played by Sahila Chadda, I play the bahu,” says Urvashi, gulping many a glass of co ld water by now.

Time comes for a photo shoot and Urvashi sportingly asks the waiter to fill her plate with some “colourful desserts.” Looking at your surprise, she quickly adds, “Don’t be so hopeful. This is not to consume but only to pose with. Imagine, if I get to eat all of these, how would I look!” With Bollywood dreams by her side, one understands her dilemma and plays on to the game.

SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail