It's party time for Bipasha Basu

After the resounding reception given to her new film Raaz 3 Bipasha Basu is in the mood to party. A teetotaler all her life she has lately acquired a taste for a brand of light champagne called Asti. Bottles of that beverage would be uncorked as Bipasha gets ready to celebrate what she refers to as her freedom. Giggles the actress happily, “I started drinking a bit of this special brand of champagne from 2011 when Sikandar Kher and Omi Vaidya found this brand for me in New Zealand. Otherwise I’ve never touched alcohol. I find the taste bitter. It’s now time to bring the Asti out. Me and my friends are planning a party. Raaz 3 is the first adult film to show such figures over the weekend. But it won’t be a massive bash. After two of my newly discovered drink I’d be in no position to look after my guests. I become like a mad girl.” She glows like never before while talking of Raaz 3. “It’s been crazily positive so far. People run and hug me and refuse to let go. I am so grateful to the film’s writer Shagufta Rafiq, producer Mahesh Bhatt Saab and director Vikram Bhatt. They knew they were casting me against my image. They pushed me to be starkly honest on camera. I remember in the sequence just before interval I had to have a breakdown after Emraan’s character deserts her. No one knew what I’d do in that scene, not even me. It just went on and on. When Vikram finally called ‘cut’ I was on floor crying inconsolably on the carpet. It’s a moment of complete emotional nakedness for me. The role made me realize that fame, recognition and success matters to me. I don’t know how I’ll react when I lose it one day.” She is all praise for her co-star. “Emraan Hashmi is such a supportive and sensible actor. He let me perform without trying to upstage me as some male actors are known to do. In The Dirty Picture he supported Vidya Balan’s performance beautifully. He did it unconditionally with me. No other A-lister hero would do this. We need more leading men like Emraan. Only then actresses would be able to get roles of substance.” Bipasha says she has changed, for the better. “I am still Bipasha, fiery and feisty and that will never change. But there’s a difference in my attitude to my career. Right now it’s the only thing that makes me happy. I’ve given my whole and soul to Raaz 3 and then Roland Joffe’s em>Singularity and Suparn Verma’s Aatma.” Aatma, says Bipasha, is a very different horror film from Raaz 3. “Aatma is not an in-your-face horror. I am doing the films that have great commercial content and a fantastic role for me. At the moment I am enjoying the praise. It’s quite humbling. Mahesh Bhatt Saab told me I took a risk in Jism. Now again I took a risk in Raaz 3 by playing an actress who does black magic. I don’t think any of my contemporaries would dare do this role. The unsafe zone always works for me.”