Leading ladies today are merely puppets: Neha

Neha Dhupia is certainly on a reinvention spree. She had two successful films to her name early this year in the form of 'Mithya' and 'Singh Is Kinng'.

Now soon after the release of 'Dasvidaniya', where she had a relatively smaller role to play though, she recently appeared in 'Maharathi'. With the kind of films she is currently associated with, the ones where there isn't a conventional hero-heroine pairing, does it indicate bye- bye to lead roles?

"Tell me if you see actresses anyways doing something special in commercial films", Neha questions back.

She goes on to state, "So many leading ladies are being merely puppets. Not that I have not done that or won't be doing that, but then I am also taking up other roles to balance it all out. In fact one such film where I get to enjoy the best of the both worlds is 'Raftaar'. It has a very balanced out characterization."

And how about 'Maharathi'? As Naseeruddin Shah's wife, she was as much as a central character as the man who seemingly shoots himself after throwing a challenge to his wife to make his death sound like a murder and go on to benefit from insurance. How kicked was she about this film?

"The film had everything going for it. What a subject! Also, coming together of so much talent in the form of Naseeruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Boman Irani was unbelievable.

In fact when the film came to me, I went like 'Are you kidding me, I can really be a part of this project'? Yes, the script was ultimately the deciding factor and I can say that 'Maharathi' was written quite amazingly", she says in a gleeful tone.

Working with such stalwarts would have been unnerving though?

"I won't deny that I was very nervous initially. But then I tried being normal in front of the camera and come up with a natural act. I just went ahead and gave the shot. I stopped thinking that because of people around me, would I actually be able to do it right", she reveals.

2009 looks bright too for Neha Dhupia with quite some variety of films lined up for release.

"Yes, after a busy 2008, I would be seen and heard a lot around in 2009 as well", says Neha, "There are movies like 'Raat Gayi Baat Gayi' and 'I Am 24' which are completed and should release early 2009.

Then I have also just completed 'Pappu Can't Dance Saala'. 'Raftaar' with Emraan Hashmi is a film I am looking forward to. I would also be beginning work on Priyadarshan's 'De Dana Dan' with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.