Lara Dutta: Joins a Social Cause

NICK, the TV channel for kids, has joined forces with the United Nations for the Millennium Development Campaign, titled NICK 2015.

Lending her voice to the campaign in an event that was held at Taj Lands End, in Mumbai is Hindi film actress and Miss Universe 2000, Lara Dutta.

Lara will help Nick highlight key global issues that need to be addressed in order to make this world a better place by 2015 when many of the kids of today will become adults.

Extracts from Lara's interview;

Lara Dutta is attitude personified. Her last release, Karan Johar’s Kaal, may not have exactly hit the bullseye, but she’s geared up for her lead role in Shoojit Sircar’s Amarjeet, where she plays a young Punjabi girl who takes on a battle against tobacco. She talks about the role and more.

Have you been a smoker?

Yes, I have – on and off. I was coerced into smoking by peer pressure in college and I could not think of a good reason not to do it. But I have not smoked for a long time. In the film, it’s good to have smokers and non-smokers in the unit for different viewpoints.

What drew you to the role?

I’m clear that I’ll always love doing commercial cinema, and it is rare to have a commercial film that also makes a strong statement. The film is of the Erin Brockovich genre — it has powerful content but is identifiable.

So who is Amarjeet?

We didn’t want her to be a lawyer or a social activist. She had to be as far removed as possible from tobacco. Incidents in her life affect her conscience and prompt her to take a small step against a tobacco tycoon and then the situation snowballs. The film is also about how these events affect her family and her love life. Amarjeet is vulnerable, feisty, intelligent and sensitive. The film is as much about her as about relationships and emotions.

Are you off to Bangkok soon to shoot for Zinda?

Yes, I am looking forward to working with Sanjay Dutt. Director Sanjay Gupta has an interesting style.

I’ll be in Bangkok for a month but the good thing is that Kelly (Dorje) will be shooting there too for Ek Ajnabee. I also have Suneel Darshan’s Dosti with Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor. I am happy with my lot.●