Give Me Red

Balan,who is literally in the hot seat,is feeling the love. “I wanted to reply to everyone but I’m unable to get a grip on my phone due to the artificial nails that I’m sporting for the song that I’m shooting,” she laughs. Balan’s especially touched by Kapoor’s tweet. “I’m more than flattered with what she said,” she says. Since there’s still a fair bit of wait till the release of the film,December 2,Balan would like to tone down the trailer praise,deafening as it may be. “We are still shooting the film and we cannot afford to lose our steam. We are still wired on telling a good story,” she says.

Currently on a career high after the hat trick of Paa,Ishqiya and No One Killed Jessica,Balan confesses that she dithered a bit before giving her nod to The Dirty Picture owing to its controversial nature. “I won’t deny that I was very apprehensive. I take a long time to say yes to a project,for this one I took twice that much time. It’s a tricky subject but director Milan (Luthria) has always inspired faith in me. I told him beforehand that I’d need a lot of hand-holding. Hopefully it’ll all pay off,” she says.

If the trailer is any indication of things to come,Balan needn’t worry. Whether it’s cavorting on a hillside with Naseeruddin Shah or doing the Dhak Dhak step as 1,200 oranges fly around them,Balan’s having a ball. “I’m living my fantasy in this film. I’ve always wanted to roll down the hills in a film and,let me tell you,it ain’t easy. I wanted to have an ‘under a waterfall moment’ in my career and now I have one,” she says.

She’s lost track of the costume changes she’s done for this film but there’s no getting away from the red sari — a tribute to Dimple Kapadia’s Sagar moment. “Red is my favourite colour and it was great to add the red lipper and red bindi to it. Thankfully,they allowed me to at least wear one sari in the film. The costumes,the make up and the hair are quite elaborate. It takes a lot of time to get ready but I’ve never enjoyed being a woman as much as I have while acting in this film,” she says.

With The Dirty Picture,Balan is back with Kapoor,who was her first producer (for the television show,Hum Paanch way back in 1995). The film,she says,has given them an opportunity to redefine the portrayal of an Indian woman on the big screen. “It’s a step forward. Today we have this unapologetic vibe about us,which is what Silk was all those years ago. We’re just waking up to it now,” she says.