‘Riteish is a sweetheart’

Her comictiming and darkslanted, shewolf act in De Taali has earned her much applause. But while basking in the compliments coming her way, she reveals that she’s tired of people confusing her with the Sen sisters — Raima and Riya and also with an actress from down South called Reema Sen. However, that’s not the only thing the actress is tired off. Rimi’s equally tired of doing comedies. “That’s all I get offered. Or some thrillers that are as thrilling as a visit to the dentist. I’m rather tired of doing comedies. Even my forthcoming films Sankat City, Horn OK Please and Shagird — in which I have a small role — show me in the comic vein,” said the actress. Incidentally, Rimi had a rather brief role in Dhoom 2 too. “Yes that was a special appearance for the sake of continuity. Please don’t ask me why I wasn’t billed as a guest appearance. I’ve no clue how big banners work,” she says rather frankly. Rimi also doesn’t mince words when she expresses her desire to work in prestigious production houses with bigger stars. “But in such set-ups I often get inconsequential roles. So I’d rather work with promising relatively small, but talented directors like E Niwas, Sriram Raghavan or Rajkumar Gupta, who’s directed Aamir.” Speaking of her highly unorthodox role as the gold-digging innocent-faced vixen in De Taali, Rimi says, “E Niwas was very clear about how he wanted me to play the character. He told me to stop being Rimi Sen and become Kartika. I took it from there. Although I played this seductive woman, I was determined not to make her conspicuously stylised. That would’ve looked like I was fishing to do some scene-stealing.” About that hyena-like giggle that she’s used, she adds, “That’s how I laugh in real life too. I thought it wouldn’t go with the character. But later I decided to incorporate it into my character to make her seem more human.” Surprisingly, even though she featured as Abhishek Bachchan’s suspicious wife in the hit Dhoom and its equally hit sequel, not much is known about Rimi. “That’s because I’m from Kolkata and I’ve no friends in the film industry.” With a self-assured aloofness that indicates a deep self-regard she informs, “I don’t attend parties or filmi events. I’d feel very foolish and fake if I had to go and socialise with the very same people with whom I share a cordial working relationship on the sets. I’m also not the kinds to go asking for a role unless I’m deeply impressed by a director’s work. It’s not that I’m not ambitious. But it won’t be at the cost of my self-respect.” Rimi also firmly believes that friendships aren’t possible in this industry. “Then why pretend? Equations change here according to opportunity and matlab. I’d rather do my work and come home.” However, she did bond rather well with her co-actor Riteish Deshmukh during De Taali. “He’s a sweetheart. I can say he’s one friend that I’ve made in the three years that I’ve been in the industry,” she smiles.