Fact and Fiction

‘‘There are certain rules in society and it’s a disaster when one breaks them.’’ Chopra might be just five films old, but she’s a pro with all-weather clichés. For instance, she hated the film industry at first, ‘‘but then I slowly fell in love and it’s become my life. I don’t have a life beyond it’’.

Chopra the actor is well-documented—from the first-time seductress in Andaaz to oomphy heroine in Mujhse...—but what about life away from the cameras? ‘‘I like to read, especially non-fiction. I loved reading about the lives of Nelson Mandela and Marilyn Monroe.’’

In some way, says Chopra, who’ll star in the sequel to last year’s blockbuster Koi Mil Gaya, she connects with true life stories.

‘‘Fiction obviously is more difficult, I have myself tried writing stuff,’’ says the actor. Raised in the US, Chopra hated chemistry classes and tried her hand at literature to escape the menace of math.

‘‘I started in school. Used to go home, put on a Ghulam Ali ghazal and try to write. Of course, I haven’t shown it to anybody. You know, just as you evolve as an actor with every film, it’s the same with poetry,’’ says Chopra, who proceeds to describe how an old Nepali lady she met in Manali inspired her to write her latest poem. ‘‘I’ve left it untitled.’’

By now, you think you’ve lulled the actor into complacency and ask her about Akshay Kumar. Nope, you don’t get her, down comes the cliché curtain.

And what do you think she said? Exactly!

Murali K Menon