"It's not true..." screams back
Bipasha, her entire being convulsing with denial. "It's a lie! You're a
liar !" She stands there, alone, helpless, as Emraan walks away. A beat,
a silence and then, she crumbles and crumples to the ground, breaking
down into a thousand pieces. Her shattered being begins to weep
inconsolably, as the truth dawns on her slowly. It's true. It's so
true....
Vikram Bhatt, the director, calls 'Cut'. But Bipasha,
the real woman, does not stop crying. She is beyond caring, far beyond
any semblance of shame, or reality. She just weeps and weeps. The unit
falls silent, unsure of what to do next. It is rare this moment, and
actors seldom go there. It happens when truth and fantasy collide,
suddenly and unexpectedly, and the actor touches the nerve which perhaps
they have been trying not to touch for so long....
The last time I had seen this happen was when I was making
Arth, and Shabana broke down and wept inconsolably, having hit some stream of buried anguish within her. For me
Bipasha Basu,
the actor, was born twice: First, exactly ten years ago when I watched
with disbelief, the biggest entertainer the world has seen,
Paul McCartney no less, make a midnight call to her, after watching the screening of
Raaz at Dimple Theatre, which made this dusky beauty the star of the new millennium. He had called her the Indian
Sophia Loren and told her that she had mesmerised him with her presence.
And then again, now, ten years later, on this luxurious set of
Raaz 3, where
she had infused into this horror medium, a rare honesty and truth which
even the best actors out there find tough to do. It was heartening to
watch Bipasha realise that even in the harshest winter there is a spring
waiting to burst out.
It was a bright warm day in my office several months ago, when
Vikram Bhatt
and me confronted Bipasha with a simple question. "Are you ready to
cannibalise your own pain and hidden truths, which only you know?"
She had just listened to the story narrated by the writer Shagufta, and
was a bit unsure about whether she should enter a space she was trying
to run away from. This Bipasha was, behind the veneer, an unsure woman.
In spite of her buoyant 'all is well exterior', I could sense that there
was a festering wound brewing beneath that.
A broken affair, a
broken heart and a not- so-happening career, and younger heroines
appearing on the horizon; were giving her the feeling that the kiss of
death, which every actor so fears, was looming large in front of her,
waiting to hurl her into the dustbin of history.
There was an
explosive pause. It was heartbreaking to see her burn. Then, those brave
words resonated in the room... "Yes Bhatt
saab. Help me get there, please."
And then began the journey in which Vikram and myself helped her
navigate this minefield of emotional ups and downs, where fact and
fiction kept overlapping, as she delved into the life of an actress who
lusts for eternal fame, and wants it through fair means or foul. Bipasha
dug into her being, and pulled out the truths that she had hidden even
from herself, and created this character that every fame seeker in the
world will empathise with.
And with that process, something
within her began to heal. She began to see that only those who lack
talent expect things to happen without effort. She gave me the feeling
of a woman who had burnt all her bridges. She had to sink or swim. Her
shaky feet, on which she had begun this journey, began to get stronger
and firmer.
And so... from a lonely, unsure woman, she turned
into someone who was okay with single blessedness. It was truly a
butterfly moment. She has come through it all. Today when I see her, she
has the look of a survivor who has used the very ground that she had
fallen on, to help her spring back to fight another round. And
another... and another...
They say that there are four seasons
in the life of every actor. First when they say, ah look, she has
potential. The next when they say, oh, she has arrived! The third, when
they say with a snigger, 'Hah, she is finished.' And the fourth when
they say, OMG, she's back !
So... will Bipasha rise like an eagle with
Raaz 3 or sink like a stone? For this brave girl, I can only hear the footsteps of spring. A long spring.
- Mahesh Bhatt
