An actress with beauty and brains to match

Candid, smart and business-minded is the impression one gets when speaking with young Indian actress Udita Goswami.

Goswami, who was in Dubai recently for an event organised by night club It's Mirchi at the Ramee Royal Hotel in Bur Dubai took some time out of her busy schedule to speak to Emirates Business about her plans for the future, her dream role and her forthcoming movie Rokkk.

Asked if she was interested in following in the footsteps of other celebrities such as Indian supermodel Milind Soman or actor Shahrukh Khan by becoming a movie or television producer, Goswami, who is a former model herself and entered the world of show business by doing advertisements for Pepsi, Titan Watches and Nokia, said: "I would like to direct music videos.

"I have worked in music videos myself and I think they are very badly done as compared to the music videos that are produced in developed countries. They need to be done in a more professional manner and I would like to do that."

Goswami, who hails from Dehra Doon in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, also wants to open acting and modelling institutes all over India.

"I would like to start from my hometown of Dehradun. It is a small town and I know there are a lot of talented people there and in the other towns of India who are struggling to get a break. I would like to open acting and modelling institutes all over the country in order to promote talent and make it easier for the younger generation to get a break in the world of modelling and acting," said Goswami, who herself is an outsider in the family-dominated Mumbai film industry.

She is also thinking of opening her own designer outlets where people will be able to buy designer clothes, makeup, handbags and shoes under one roof.

"I would like to open designer outlets in all the big cities of India. I have my plans ready and I also want to tie up with big firms such as Mac for my outlets. But, of course, these are just plans right now as I need to put them into motion," she said.

Goswami's career has taken a new turn as a Bollywood actress, who until now had been doing steamy and glamorous roles, as she is now doing an unglamorous role for her forthcoming movie Jagmohan Mundra's Chase. So, is she experimenting with more serious and meatier roles now? "No. I am not experimenting. It's just that earlier I never got good roles. Now I am getting good and different roles so I am doing them," she said.

Goswami always dreamed of playing the role of Umrao Jaan, which was played by veteran actress Rekha in the 1980's blockbuster. But now that the movie has been remade with top Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai in the lead and proved to be a flop she has given up all hopes of ever getting to do that role.

"I always wanted to do that role. I was so taken in by the dignity and sensuality of Rekha that it became my dream role."

Apart from different roles, the actress has been doing her own stunts of late.

"I did some of the stunts for director Jag Mundhra's new movie Chase and for my forthcoming movie Rokkk, which is a horror flick. It is based on a real life experience of the director Rajesh Ranshinge.

"While I did not have any frightening experience while doing stunts for Chase, I did have a few mishaps while shooting Rokkk. Once a trolly hit the SUV I was in and the vehicle went flying and once a tree fell on me when I was shooting in Film City.

"Luckily for me, I got caught between the branches and escaped with a few bruises. I can't imagine what would have happened if I had come under the trunk of the tree.

"Then there was this scene where I was supposed to go flying across the room and hit a wall and the guy who was supposed to launch me in the air pulled the harness hard and I went and hit the wall so hard that my whole body was numb for sometime after that," she said.

Asked if stuntmen and actors are insured by the moviemakers to cater for any mishaps, Goswami said: "No, unfortunately, they are not. I wish it were so. It's done in Hollywood. We should start doing so."

Goswami, who is said to be improvising on the sets these days like her favourite lead man Aamir Khan, would love to do a movie with him.

"He is intelligent, smart, focused and trendy. Unlike some of the others in the industry, he has brains and is not self-obsessed. I would love to work with Aamir and I hope I am taking baby steps towards becoming a great actor like him."

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