Prolific model-turned-actress Bidita Bag whose passionate kissing scenes with co-star Nawazuddin Siddiqui in controversial ‘Babumoshai Bandookbaaz’ (‘BB’), have rocked showbiz, has a ‘cool shock’ in store for her fans. The bold ‘n beautiful Bidita who had worn oomph-oozing ethnic attires as a dehaati damsel in ‘BB’, is fully covered from ‘head-to-toe’ in a demure traditional libaas in award-winning ’Rabbi’ directed by Rahat Kazmi and co-produced by costume designer Zeba Sajid. Justifies the ‘Fair and Lovely’ commercial model, “That’s because I play this conservative Urdu teacher Aafiya, in ‘Rabbi’, a satirical, musical Muslim social opposite Furqan Merchant, against a backdrop of Jammu. Since I ‘expose’ only my face (laughs), on the sets, they would fondly call me ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’. Actually, much before I even signed for ‘Babumoshai’ I had already shot for ‘Rabbi’.
There is a romantic undercurrent, but no passionate intimacy. All the same, my character is mentally liberal,” explains exuberant Bag. Post ‘BB’s release, was she being hounded with a spate of role-offers that require ‘lip-lock’ scenes. Shrugs Bidita, “ Frankly, I do not wish to be typecast and do not wish to grab roles which ‘unnecessarily’ insist on intimate scenes. My performance in ‘BB’ is being compared to that of legends like Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, which is a humbling honour for me ,” counters the dedicated actress who has a variety of roles up her sleeve including a bio-pic ‘Dayabai’, and also an underworld-theme Hindi movie ‘The Last Encounter’. “Out here I play an amazing character ‘Saraswati’ who gets drawn into arms-dealing”, she signs off.
