I am not 'Hot', says Amisha Patel

IT doesn't matter that Bipasha Basu and Lara Dutta's verbal volleys raised the temperature on 'Koffee with Karan'. Bipasha was probably right in saying she's not hot, admits Amisha Patel.

Hardly had Amisha's war of words with Kareena and Karisma Kapoor began to cool off, when there came the unlooked for salvo on filmmaker Karan Johar's immensely popular chat show. Reacting to Amisha's contention that she would never do a film like Jism, Bipasha said the petite actress just didn't have the body to carry off such roles. Amisha, who recently severed all ties with her family in a public notice, takes a subtle swipe at the Bengali Bombshell by discussing her 'body of work'.

"I completely agree with Bipasha. She's right - I don't have the frame for a film like Jism. I am petite and pretty, but maybe not sexy enough. I am not hot. I don''t have a body like hers and I know my limitations. I think every actor fits into what they are meant to look good in. I know my limitations and have therefore opted for more substance-oriented roles like the one I'm doing in The Rising.

Just like others can't do a Rising, Gadar, Kaho Na Pyar Hai or Humraaz, similarly I cannot justify roles where I don't fit into the look and feel of the character," she says. Lara too had reacted sharply on Karan's show. When asked how she felt after Amisha reportedly dismissed her as 'inconsequential', the former Miss Universe said it was natural that Amisha found nothing as important as the many problems in her professional and personal life.

Despite the apparent souring of relations, Amisha claims she's still on good terms with Lara work-wise. "We were there together in Elaan and had a great professional relationship. The fact is we mostly interact on the sets while shooting. After pack-up, each of us goes their separate ways.

Since I don't socialise much and most of my time is spent travelling and shooting, I rarely get a chance to meet my co-stars. Forget other actresses; I worked with Sunny in Gadar and we had such a great time shooting.

But I haven't met up with him after that. We never worked together or found the time to interact socially. Does that mean we have fallen out? We are still friends and respect each other professionally," she says. Surprisingly, Amisha is willing to forget and forgive her run-ins with the Kapoor sisters.

She and Kareena, who rejected Kaho Na Pyar Hai to make her debut in Refugee opposite Abhishek Bachchan, were believed to have fallen out after the film created box office history.

Elder sis Karisma had reportedly jumped to Bebo's rescue and engineered Amisha's dismissal from a world tour early in 2003. There was no catfight, says Amisha. According to her: "I never had any animosity with Kareena. It's a simple case of bad medicine. Maybe she (Kareena) could not take the success of the film she had opted out of."

Amisha also insists she has no axe to grind with Lolo. "It was one of those incidents which were blown out of proportion. I had no issues with Karisma. In fact she is far senior to me in the industry. I was in school when she was already 'The Karisma Kapoor'. I've grown up watching her films.

Even while shooting for Mere Jeevan Saathi where she plays the third angle to the film with Akshay and me, she was completely professional on the sets. I had a number of scenes with her and if we didn't share a certain comfort level, I am sure the film would not have come across so well on the screen," she says. The actress sounds a note of warning to critics who had trashed her after the failure of Elaan and Vaada: "I have an interesting line up of films beginning with The Rising.

Certainly, it is an Aamir Khan film and Mangal Pandey is the chief protagonist. But my character is significant too. As a Bengali widow, I play a deglamourised role with no jewellery for the first time. It was quite a challenge. Working with such a terrific cast and crew however made it worth all the effort.

Aamir as usual was superb and a pleasure to have as a co-star. I am also doing Tathastu, followed by Mere Jeevan Saathi with Akshay Kumar and Karisma. I''m also doing a South Indian film with junior NTR who enjoys the same status as Shahrukh Khan does in Bollywood.

Then there is Humko Tumse Pyar Hai with Bobby Deol and Arjun Ramphal. So it's too early to comment on my career." In another sign of growing maturity, Amisha refuses to discuss the bitter family feud that has split the Patels. "I have already said what I wanted to say through the public notice.

I am now thinking of nothing but my films. I'll be off soon to Switzerland on a month long shooting schedule for the South Indian film I am doing. After that I'll be busy with my world tour till the end of May. There's certainly a lot to look forward to," she says.●