It’s said that in showbiz, if you don’t ‘show’, there is ‘no business’. This aptly applies to this latest entrant into the filmy duniya. She may not have the conventional photogenic looks of a heroine, but controversial glam babe Poonam Pandey definitely has the histrionic spunk and the shapely assets to qualify for Bollywood roles.
The box office response to her author-backed character in erotic thriller Nasha directed by Amit (Jism) Saxena released last week has been good enough to make showbiz producers desiring to cast her in their upcoming films. But ‘femme fatale’ Pandey is selectively checking out the lucrative offers. It may be recalled that Poonam catapulted into the limelight with her sensational declaration to ‘disrobe’ if India won the (cricket) ICC World Cup (2011).
“Honestly, I am game to experiment with different kinds of contrasting lead roles to prove that I am versatile. But I guess, that in keeping with my bold image, the ‘oomph’ factor cannot be overlooked,” shrugs the actor who is peeved with what she calls “double standards”.
“Our own people give so much dignified respect to a certain hardcore porn actress from abroad, (Sunny Leone) whereas I am being censured by my detractors.
My debut venture Nasha is certainly not a porn film. It’s a regular Hindi feature film with its share of songs, emotional and sentimental besides the bold intimate scenes. Since I star in it, there’s skin show as well. But there is also an underlying social message that obsessive teenage infatuation can prove destructive if not nipped in the bud,” insists Pandey who off-screen has to contend with her conservative disapproving parents besides a host of “spoilsports”.
Director Amit Saxena, who had directed the sensuous Bipasha Basu in Jism (2003), is happy with his latest discovery.