‘I don’t believe in marriage’

lot more to Barbara Mori than her alleged affair with Bollywood's resident heartthrob, and her Kites co-star, actor Hrithik Roshan.

Besides her sultry good looks, the Mexican actress is a fiercely independent single mother to a 12-year-old, a breast cancer survivor who bears a somewhat cynical outlook towards the institution of marriage and harbours the soul of an unabashed bathroom singer.

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But when we caught up with Mori over the phone during her visit to Mumbai, she first chose to comment on the splendid hospitality of her celebrity hosts.

“Hrithik and Suzanne have been wonderful. They've been very generous and made me feel extremely comfortable. In fact, they've both become good friends to me,” noted the actress, in accented English.

Obviously, this statement detracts from the credibility of rumours asserting a romantic relationship between Mori and Roshan.

The actress further added that the star couple even introduced her to their slightly older and more renowned Indian counterparts – Shah Rukh and Gauri Khan.

“We even visited Shah Rukh's house where we watched a cricket match and I met some more actors. All in all, everyone has been very warm and welcoming.”

However, despite her pleasant stay in the city and experiences with friendly celebrities, Mori was not blind to the staggering cultural differences between her hometown and Mumbai, especially when it came down to language.

“Sometimes the Indian accent is a bit difficult to understand. Our director Anurag Basu once came to explain a scene to me, and I couldn't understand a word of what he said because he went too fast.

“After he was done, I told him, 'please speak in English' and he shouted back that he was speaking in English! At that point, Hrithik had to help me understand what he was saying,” recalled the actress, laughing.

Mori also claims that during the length of the shooting of the romantic thriller Kites, she did eventually pick up bits and pieces of the Hindi language, but currently her succinct dictionary is mostly limited to “cuss words”.

Another disparity between the Mexican and Indian ways that snared the actress' attention was the general disapproval of single mothers and children born out of wedlock.

“In my country, there are many single mothers. I'm unmarried and have a child, but I don't see it as a problem. My son is the most beautiful thing to happen to me. He is the centre of my world.”

Which brings us to the subject of marriage. Currently single, and happy to parade her status, Mori strongly opposes the idea of tying the proverbial knot, and asserts that she is not prepared to renounce her freedom.

“It's not that it is not important, it's that I don't believe in marriage. I would marry someone if I loved him, but what if that love were to not last? Why compromise and stick around or go through a painful divorce? I've heard about so many people splitting up that I think it's just not for me,” gravely declared the actress.

Meanwhile, besides her eagerly anticipated Bollywood debut – which will receive its global release this weekend - Mori will also be seen in Indo-American actress Namrat Singh Gujral's Hollywood docu-drama 1 a minute.

The feature will comprise an amalgamation of women celebrities across the world - the likes of Olivia Newton-John, Lisa Ray and Priya Dutt - outlining their struggle with cancer.

“My breast cancer struck when I was 29 but it was detected in time and I didn't need to go through chemotherapy. So I'll be talking about the importance of regular check-ups.”

Incidentally, filmmaker Anurag Basu is also a proud cancer survivor. Basu commented in an interview with City Times that his battle with leukaemia fostered a bond between him and his female lead on the sets.

Perhaps that was the reason why the director finally agreed, after severe coercion from both Roshan and Mori, to let the actress perform most of her stunts in the acition-packed Kites.

“Initially, I wasn't asked to perform any stunts. But I was so sure that I was capable enough, that I convinced Hrithik, who in turn persuaded Anurag. And within no time I was leaping from cars and hanging from racing trucks.”

Lastly, the actress, who was staying in Mumbai with her brother Kintaró Mori, spoke about her sibling's singing finesse and his effort to launch himself in India.

However, Mori dismissed herself as nothing more than a mere, but proud, bathroom singer; “I wouldn't want to torture anyone with my singing.”

On a string and a prayer

The making of Kites has been no picnic for Hrithik Roshan – between performing daredevil stunts, singing and tackling troublesome rumours, the actor claims he's had his hands full

RAKESH ROSHAN CLAIMS he's never been as proud of his son as when he saw his work in Kites – such is the acting finesse displayed by Hrithik Roshan in the forthcoming romantic thriller, helmed by Anurag Basu.

But while the actor makes it look easy, he admits to us that there were a lot of hurdles to cross, from crooning out a soft romantic number in perfect sync with the melodious harmony to letting go of his preferred, practiced style of acting.

City Times caught up with the younger Roshan to investigate further on the challenges and “distasteful” rumours he faced during the shooting of Kites.

Let's start with your character in Kites - tell us a bit about him.

His name is Jay and he is born and brought up in Las Vegas. He's a very street-smart guy, very hand-to-mouth. He believes that the end of all suffering is an equation between how much money you have and how much you can spend. His life's mission is to become rich.

And this is the role that finally got you to sing?

It was nothing short of a horror film playing out when Anurag Basu told me that I'd have to sing. I just stared at him aghast and hoped that he was joking. But he explained to me that the character warrants him singing in his own voice. Unfortunately, that's something that I agreed with.

So how much preparation went into it?

I asked for two months but all I got was two weeks. I did whatever I could do in that time. From waking up in the morning and practicing my 'sa re ga ma' to borrowing my niece's Casio to practice, I did it all. Finally I was pushed into a little hole with a mic. I had to switch off all the lights so that I could detach myself from everyone and everything and focus.

You're also singing two songs in your next film Guzaarish - is this going to become a permanent fixture for your fans from here on?

Nobody was mad enough as Anurag to make me sing. But now that it's been done, I enjoy it. However, the only correct reason to do it is that it's working for the film and the audience. There's no intelligence in doing it just because I love it and no one else does.

Switching back to Kites, what made working with Barbara Mori the pleasurable experience you claim it was?

When we first met Barbara, Anuraag was absolutely delighted and so was I. She's not about looking pretty or angling herself in a certain way in front of the camera. Her acting really comes from the heart. She's completely spontaneous.

But you've always claimed that spontaneity is not really your style when it comes to acting – were there ever any problems while working together?

I was the only odd one out on the sets of Kites. Everyone seemed to prefer working impulsively. In my ten-year career I have always drafted out every little thing I do but I had to quickly learn to let go of that forte of mine.

And was Kangana Ranaut similar to Barbara Mori in terms of acting style?

Oh, absolutely! Kangana comes from the mountains and there is this air of spontaneity in her spirit and her sense of acting. Both Barbara and Kangana were very similar in that manner. I really had to be at peace with my weaknesses. But it really proved to be a learning experience.

You've done most of your own stunts in the film – is that something you're a firm believer in?

So far I am young enough to do my own stunts, but I'm not stupid. I know that I'm an actor. So if my character was required to fall off steps or something that's equally not about the aesthetics then I'm more than happy to let someone else do it. But if it's something that's going to add to the character's personality than I'd like to do it.

Rumour has it that Kites will treat the audience to quite a few intimate scenes – is there any truth to them?

Rumours are just rumours. It's a sweet and simple love story. It's been misrepresented for quite some time by a certain section of the media but it's a family film. I would be proud to show it to my kids.

Speaking of, how do you deal with all the controversies that have come your way recently?

I empathise with that section of the media that writes stuff like that. I understand that their intentions are not wrong because they don't want to hurt me or anybody else, but just want to put food on the table or earn an extra buck. But sometimes it gets so silly that you don't even bother because you have enough faith in the intelligence of the people reading.

Hrithik's top fitness tip

Do at least 15 minutes of anything everyday, be it walking on the treadmill or weight training, and it will help. Just be consistent with it.

Director's cut

Tell us a bit about your casting decisions – why Hrithik and Barbara?

I had Hrithik in mind while scripting the story because of his universal appeal. And he's played his character perfectly. Then I needed a Spanish girl from Mexico and we came across Barbara. She's really proved herself an asset to the film.

How hard was it to direct Barbara considering the existence of a language barrier?

While she speaks English well, every once in a while we had a tough time trying to communicate, especially when it came to emotions. Some of the stunts were also very hard to do. But with practice, we learnt how to work through it.

What are you working on next?

It's a film called Silence with Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra playing the leads.

Daddy dearest

With upcoming romantic thriller Kites, Rakesh Roshan chose to concede the title of directing his son Hrithik alongside Barbara to filmmaker Anurag Basu.

The reason? Well, the filmmaker claims, is that he always saw Basu's name next to him at nominee listings for Best Director awards. After watching a DVD of one of his features, dramatic thriller Gangster, Roshan was quite pleased to hand over the reigns of his film quite confidentally to Basu.

“Right now people know about the film and are waiting to see it and that makes me very happy. Hrithik has grown so much with each film that his talent really shines through in Kites.”

davina@khaleejtimes.com