What's the big dealin showing a bare back, unhooking a bra or flashing the panties? Who is saying that I am the new Mallika Sherawat of Bollywood? Neither Vivek nor Vikram said it. Then who is spreading this? It's not for nothing that Vikram Bhatt has begun to address Paoli Dam as "Ms Damn Good".

Her "Hate Story" dialogues - "Main iss shehar ki sabse badi randi banna chahti hoon (I want to be the biggest whore in the city)" and "I f**k those who f**k with me" - have sent ripples across board. If that's what she says on screen, her off screen bytes are equally upfront.

The Tollywood actor, who is making her Bollywood debut in Vivek Agnihotri's "HS", says her job is to perform and the director and producer are to answer questions regarding the censorship issues of the film. "I don't understand this whole commotion about wearing bikinis or flashing panties.

Haven't I done all that before? But yes, the difference is in the way those same scenes have been shot in this film. I am an actor and the camera needs to make me look beautiful on screen when I am shooting those scenes," she insists.

It's not about how much you expose as much as how much the camera can make the viewers imagine about the exposure quotient," she says, before insisting that despite the sexy trailer, the film is not graphic in terms of nudity. And it certainly is no patch in terms of its sexual content if compared to her controversial full frontal love making scene in Vimukthi Jayasundara's "Chatrak".

Ask her about the fact that she apparently had no inhibitions about shooting any sex scenes in front of the full crew and she says, "It's a cliche to say I don't have inhibitions. But whatever I shot for this film was with my clothes on.

There is no nudity as such in "HS". It is a thriller and at the most, there are intimate scenes.

Vivek, I'd say, has treated those intimate scenes very aesthetically. As a director, Vivek is someone who always tells people: 'Mere eyeline ke samne se hat jao'.

That automatically means he doesn't like to have a crowd while we are shooting." As far as sensuality goes, Paoli feels it's about time for Bollywoodto grow up.

"There was a time in Hindi cinema when women commanded a sensual presence. Not every heroine who did that had to shed their clothes.

Look at Rekha and her sensuality. It's her body language, her look and the way she carried herself on screen.

Somewhere down the line, Bollywood movies turned women into mere props. But now, things are changing and more so, with the success of Vidya Balan's recent films.

I think, it's the best time for me to be making my Hindi film debut. Contemporary Bollywood's conception of being bold is dated! Being bold is not about unhooking a bra.

It is about the thought. My sensuality lies in my eyes and not my bare back," she insists.

Tell her that her trailers of 'HS' are making people say that she is the next Mallika Sherawat of Bollywood and she says, "Who is saying that? Vivek or Vikram hasn't said anything like that." Will she be game if she is again asked to shoot a full frontal nude scene? "It depends on the aesthetics of the director, his stature, the script and the pitching of the film," she asks a rhetorical question.

While shooting the intimate scenes of "HS" (even the ones which has her "Kagojer Bou" co-star, Joy Sengupta, literally groping her all over) wasn't any tough task, what was difficult was the fact that she had to master Hindi and dub for herself (less)

"What is bold for you may not be bold for me. Boldness is a state of mind," Paoli, now the lead actress of Bollywood film Hate Story , said to be topped with dollops of sex and violence, told IANS in an interview.

No wonder she picks roles that most other actresses would think about twice before giving the nod to. "As an actor I am choosy about the script and the projects that I do.

But when I take a project, I don't have any dilemma about it," said Paoli, who plays a sex worker in Hate Story . "I want to do good cinema with good directors and banners.

Script matters to me. I am a newcomer and different people have their own way of growing.

I don't want to compare myself with anyone. For me bold is beautiful in its own way," she added.

Her parents aren't complaining of her choices either. " Hate Story is my first Bollywood launch.

My parents and friends are very happy about it. I have been bought up as an individual and my parents respect my decision (to do bold films).

I have my own individuality and, besides, I am an actress," she said. "For me, the movie is about performance and it showcases the power of women.

Yes, there are bold scenes in the film, but it has been shot aesthetically," added Paoli. Hate Story , being touted as an 'erotic thriller', is directed by Vivek Agnihotri and produced by Vikram Bhatt .

The movie, about the transformation of a simple middle class girl to a sex worker to seek revenge, has released with an A certificate. Paoli plays the lead role of Kaavya, a journalist.

"I had got a call from Vikram who offered me this role. I know Vikram is a sensible director; I liked his script as it's a very powerful role.

It's a female-oriented film and I had a lot of space to perform. "My character is shown as a confident and a very today's girl.

The story is about revenge with a bold concept," she said. Paoli went out of the way to shed 10 kg for the role, which marks her foray into the Hindi film industry.

"I have shed 10 kg for this film. When I had come to Mumbai, I weighed 55 kg.

But Vikram asked me to shed weight. He said the script demanded a lean and thin girl.

"I went on strict diet and I used to work out thrice a day. Finally I managed to shed the extra kilos and came down to 45 kg," said the 31-year-old (less)

However, Paoli maintains that she will continue to do intimate scenes as she has no hang-ups with them. "I have no inhibitions as an actor," says Paoli who is now starring in Vikram Bhatt's next venture - Love Games which is a story about wife swapping.

The story itself points to high sexual content. So, has Bhatt cast her again in his film because she has no problems with intimate scenes? The filmmaker says, "She is a very good actor who has no qualms about her sexuality.

" Paoli, on her part, adds, "There is a thin line between vulgarity and sensuality which I am careful about. We needed bold scenes to portray the character of the wife in the film.

" Earlier, Paoli had also termed her role of a journalist turned sex worker in her first film as "bold". What defines bold for her? "Boldness is a genre of films that is high on erotic content.

It doesn't, in anyway imply, vivid sex scenes to back weak scripts," Paoli justifies. Before venturing into mainstream B-town, Paoli has worked in Bengali parallel cinema.

Chatrak, a film on the socio-political life of a city, as she defines it, was a directorial endeavour by Sri Lanka-based filmmaker Vimukthi Jayasundara . It was termed as the boldest film ever made and sources reveal how viewers walked out of the theatres because of the explicit scenes between Paoli and Anubrata Basu.

"I do not believe in parallel cinema. Every film is made for money and it is not different from the mainstream," she explains.

So why did she star in Chatrak - which falls in the category of parallel cinema? "Because it was an international film. Plus, I got to walk the red carpet at Cannes 2011 and that is a dream come true for any actor.

" Rumours are that once she became the blue-eyed girl in the Bhatt camp, she backed out of Choli ke Peeche , a film by an Italian director, in which she was supposed to go topless. "It did not work out as the schedule was postponed and the lead actor, Irrfan Khan, also backed out.

" she says. Does this mean that the sexy Bong siren will only star in big banner films? "The character, script, banner and co-actors definitely matter to me," she says (less)

"I don't know much about it, honestly, as I am busy promoting the film," she shrugs apologetically before moving on to other topics. The other topics being her B-wood entry.

Be it her wish to be painted nude by the late MF Hussain, or even rumours of the film's maker Vivek Agnihotri asking her to strip bare - have been the stuff of gossip mills for long now. Paoli reacts to questions on nudity with a shrugs, saying, "When you are in limelight then some nonsense gossip keeps following you and the same happened with me.

I don't know from where all this news comes up. The most shocking was the one about the maker of my upcoming film, Vivek Agnihotri, asking me to strip all in front of him during the audition for the film! Such stories are nothing but the overworked imagination of some" But mention her competition among the latest entrants, who too are making news for their racy revelations - read Sunny Leone, the import from USA's adult industry, or even Poonam Pandey who after promising to strip if India won the Wold Cup last year, is all set to play herself in a "bold" film - and Paoli becomes animated.

"Why would their entry in Bollywood bother me? It's true that apart from me Sunny and Poonam would also be making their Bollywood debut and they are also doing bold roles, but I frankly I don't take them as any competition. Bollywood is a huge place to work and if you are talented enough then you would get your share of work," she replies emphatically.

Paoli, known for a racy image on screen - her international film "Chatrak" too created controversy for much the same reasons - says she has always preferred playing bold characters on screen. "As an actress, I think beyond boldness.

Making a debut in Bollywood with a bold character was not my conscious decision. I love roles that have layers in them.

In my upcoming film my character is full of layers. Audiences would get to see my professional, romantic, sexy and revengeful shades in the film.

As for "Chatrak", I think it should not be compared to my upcoming film. That would be unfair," says Paoli.

Apart from playing bold roles Paoli is also doing a Bengali film based on the Rabindranath Tagore's creation "Char Odhyay". "Being Bengali working on Rabindranath Tagore's creation is a matter of pride for me.

This film is a period film set in the pre-independence era." (less)

Tell me which actress is not shedding her inhibitions today? What I have done in Hate Story or Chatrak is nothing new. When a character demands a certain look, you've got to do that for the film.

" Paoli, a self-confessed foodie who loves her 'mach-bhat' everyday, was put on a 'high protein no carb diet' for two months. She says, "I really love food and enjoyed having mithais everyday, which I had to forego.

I had food which was devoid of oil, spices, and sugar for two months. I only ateboiled fish and salad during that time.

I also worked out four times in a day for an hour. I practically lived at the gym the whole day when I trained under Prashant Sawant who had put me on a very strict schedule.

" Paoli says that the leaner look is the global look and in Bollywood that's working too. "Back home in Kolkata, voluptuous women are fine on screen but Bollywood filmmakers do not want their heroines to show off an extra inch on their body.

If you've got to look attractive for your onscreen character, then you need a figure like that." She's also excited about the fact that the first teaser of her movie has created ripples of excitement and generated curiosity.

As an actor Paoli is happy that she has been able to reinvent herself in Bollywood. She also feels that there was never a time when Bollywood films did not have bold scenes.

"The unneccesary hoopla being created about a poster from my film is primarily because social media and other means of communication are hightlighting such things even more, otherwise Bollywood had bold heroines doing bold scenes before." (less)

His other shows like Yeh Kahan Aa gaye Hum and his stand alone stories on shows like Gubbare, Saturday Suspense, X-Zone, Rishtey & Neha - Mini Series created their own genre. His earlier two films Goal and Chocolate , too were very different in their treatment and subject.

His forthcoming film is Hate Story and with the star cast of Nikhil Dwivedi, Paoli Dam and Gulshan Devaiah, it is already creating major ripples in the industry with first look and promo. In conversation with the filmmaker.

How did 'Hate Story' initiate? Vikram Bhatt had written this very bold and gripping script. One day I got a call from him asking to look at this script.

The first thing I asked him 'Why me?', as he is an accomplished director himself. He felt that the film has become very bold and we need to raise the bar.

And for that he wanted a stylish, gutsy and matured director. Erotica is a tricky and delicate genre.

And I had just finished shooting a cerebral Art House cinema 'Buddha In a Traffic Jam' with 570 future CEO's of India. Then I said why am I scared of erotica.

Let's make erotica the way a French director would approach it. I was very clear that I was not interested in making a titillating movie.

So I told him that if we have to make this film, we must not hold ourselves in any which way. He said an instant yes and we were on.

What was your biggest challenge? Honestly, I had never thought about making an erotica. So, first challenge was to understand the genre.

And make a list of what not to do. My bigger challenge was to find actors who could be so uninhibited that we could make it the way it should be made.

It also meant that the actors should be able to stand naked and give such performance that body becomes secondary. I was lucky to find that in super talented Paoli Dam and Gulshan Devaiah.

Your movie poster got 22 lakh views within 8 hours. That was overwhelming.

In fact the trailer got a Record over lac views in less than 24 hours. Do you foresee any problem from censor board? If you are scared of censor or moral police I'd advice not to make a film.

A scared, calculating mind can never make an honest film. All I can say is that I have never been and never will be scared.

Why did you opt for Paoli Dam over an established actresses? I knew that she is a good actor. But when I met her first I asked her if she would stand naked in front of camera and without blinking her eyes, she said yes.

And she was on. Paoli is a gifted actor.

She is so talented that every scene with her finds value addition. Also, she is known for her boldness and comes with no inhibition.

Normally when you shoot any sex scene we get the crew out of the sets. But in our case we shot all sex scenes with full crew on sets like we would shoot any other scene.

Do you think India is ready for real erotica or are we little ahead of time? We were always ready. We have written Kamasutra.

Our mythology, art and music has so much erotica in it. Have you read Kalidasa's Meghdootam or Ritusamhar? Read Ghalib.

Its only recently that a scared government and vote-bank politicians have made mockery of freedom that we have started finding indirect and tittilating ways. Also, I think censor board also helped create such hypocritical ways of coming to the subject of eroticism.

Any particular scene that required last minute changes or alterations? Not really except that Nikhil Dwivedi fell and broke his arm and we had to reschedule. What next? Buddha In a Traffic Jam is a very personal and intimate film, which I am releasing next.

It's about intellectual terrorism - a subject never raised before in India (less)

The movie, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, features Nikhil Dwivedi, Paoli Dam and Gulshan Devaiya. Bengali actress Paoli is known to have done one of the boldest scenes in Bengali cinema in "Chatrak".

But it is not clear whether the girl in the picture is Paoli or not. However, if one goes by the first look of "Hate Story" alone, the audiences can hope for a steamy affair by Bhatt this time (less)

Only Aishwarya Rai and Mallika Sherawat made headlines because they publicised their upcoming films. Stars such as Saif Ali Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Minissha Lamba and Karan Johar were also in Cannes, courtesy leading brands.

A publicist said that these stars’ presence was being highlighted in India alone. But, it was a breath of fresh air to see the tall and dusky Paoli Dam walking the red carpet.

The actress plays the lead role in the film Chatrak, the only part-Indian official film in Cannes, screened for the second week at Directors’ Fortnight to packed audiences. Now one of Bengal’s top stars, Paoli made her mark in Gautam Ghosh’s Kalbela (2009).

In 2011, she already has two releases Bappaditya Bandopadhyay’s Kagojer Bou and Atanu Ghosh’s Takhon Teish. Paoli says, “It is a great pleasure to be in Cannes.

I hope more and more Bengali films get the same kind of audience, because great films are made in Bengal.” Unlike the other Indian stars in Cannes, Paoli wore traditional and ethnic Indian clothes of bright, vibrant colours and striking tribal jewelry.

Paoli was accompanied by Vimukthi Jayasundara and Vinod Lahoti, the film’s director and producer respectively. Celebrated director Vimukthi Jayasundara is a Cannes favourite, thanks to his earlier films set mostly in Sri Lanka.

His first feature, The Forsaken Land won the 2005 Cannes Camera d’Or. His second, Between Two Worlds competed at the 2009 Venice.

It took this Singhalese filmmaker to make Chatrak, an elliptical film about personal disillusionment of a remembered homeland in this case, Bengal. Chatrak looks at the conflict between the material world and the world of nature.

Its protagonist, playing a successful Dubai-based architect, returns after many years to Kolkata and to the woman who is waiting for him. He sees with increasing despair a city submerged in construction.

Jayasundara uses his stamp of a minimalist style, sparse dialogue and exquisite camerawork of haunting landscapes. Chatrak has been co-produced by Vinod Lahoti and three French producers Les Films de l’étranger, Bear Called Dog and Wallpaper Productions.

Lahoti is the co-owner of the Vandana Trading Company, involved in international trading in the area of defence equipment and spares, and export of machinery used in the making of tea. His interest in films led him to make his first film, Kagojer Bou in 2010.

Chatrak is his second feature. Lastly, it was a sudden pleasure to come across an ebullient Sonam Kapoor on the Croisette, walking casually during the day just to sight see and shop.

A still from Chatrak She was wearing a white lace dress. White seems to be her colour at Cannes.

She wore a striking white outfit that night on the red carpet too (less)

Dam is known to be an uninhibited actress from Kolkata, who recently agreed to go topless for an Italian film, Italo Spinelli's Choli Ke Peeche . We believe the Bhatts, brothers Mahesh and Mukesh, are set to get a highly sexually uninhibited performance, one more provocative than even Bipasha Basu's and Mallika Sherawat's characters in Jism and Murder respectively.

Although director Kunal Deshmukh is unwilling to confirm if they have signed on Dam, Deshmukh is willing to admit that Desai quit the film after a kissing scene was added to the script. "Prachi was very clear that she wouldn't be part of the film if the sexual content was revved up.

After some changes were made in the script, she stood by her decision, and I respect that," said Deshmukh. When asked, Desai said, "There were some changes made in the script.

It (quitting) was a collective decision taken by Vishesh Films, Deshmukh and me." Tweet (less)