None of these girls match up to the traditionally-held view of the Hindi film heroine.They cannot be considered item girls either - let alone bar dancers, cabaret artistes and the like. They just do not fit into the persona of any of the prototypical Bollywood women who serve as male appendages to define the conventional macho act. A closer look at their roles would however reveal that these uber-cool, sexy wildcats are actually as much heroines as they are vamps, as they are item girls and yet, they are none of them. In this category of new age leading ladies are a host of scene stealers answering to names like Katrina Kaif, Mallika Sherawat, Rakhi Sawant, Koena Mitra and Manjari Fadnis. There is nothing subtle or understated in their act. Everything about them - right from the clothes they wear to their false eyelashes - screams for attention.Such exhibitionism was the most convenient ploy adopted by little-known starlets, desperate to get noticed.

But now mainline heroines seem anxious to step into the shoes of these spice girls. For instance, Aishwarya Rai after her ‘Kajra Re’ in Bunty and Babli not only eclipse the performances of the lead stars, but has outlived the film in public memory. Likewise, Bipasha Basu’s ‘Bidi Jalai Ley’ number in Omkara? The dare-bare act is the most tried and tested trick in the book, right from the days of Mumtaz, Bindu, Kalpana Iyer and Zeenat Aman.  Their present-day sisters are girls like Shilpa Shetty, best remembered for that raunchy ‘Main aayi hoon UP-Bihar lootke’ number from a forgettable Shool. When Mallika saw her career going nowhere, she danced to Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story and landed the lead role in Ugly Aur Pagli. This is exactly the kind of break wannabes like Isha Koppikar and Momaith Khan (‘Dekh Le’ in Munnabhai MBBS) and Koena Mitra are looking for.But it will not be easy for them. During the days of Mumtaz (who started out as a group dancer) and other yesteryear heroines, there was always scope for the girls to graduate to leading ladies.

Films were conceived according to a set ‘formula’. The very same ‘formula’ has gone for a toss, with non-heroine films - be it Bheja Fry or Taare Zameen Par, Aamir or Mumbai Meri Jaan - turning out to be stupendous hits. Meanwhile recent releases like U, Me Aur Hum, Tashan and Karzzzz which boast of seasoned actresses have bombed.It does not therefore make much sense for a filmmaker to provide for a strong female presence in the cast, unless of course, it is an all-woman show like Fashion. At best, the heroine is being accommodated in a peripheral role, in which she serves an ornamental purpose, usually with an item number. Replace her with another girl, however inexperienced she might be, and it would make absolutely no difference. This is where the spice girls come in.They are all young, full of spunk, have no starry airs, look good and come cheap.They raised the glamour quotient of a film and are ever willing to go that extra mile to make an impression. Most importantly, their youth serves as a welcome foil for our ageing heroes. Those who understand this are doing well for themselves.

Those like Rani Mukherji and Deepika Padukone, who refuse to reconcile, are finding themselves rapidly side-lined.Others, including Urmila Matondkar, Kareena, Bipasha and Katrina Kaif are accepting whatever roles come their way in order to remain in the reckoning.After all, this is no time to stand on false pride and past glory.

She adds, “I understand that we are celebrities and people want to know everything about us, but this is not right. You can’t marry me off to someone one day, make me go through a break-up and even write that I have done a crime just because you want to make news.”Priyanka has also made news recently as some papers claimed that she and her Fashion co-star Kangana were not getting along well with each other. Apparently Kangana was not happy with Priyanka getting all the limelight. “There is no truth behind this news. I have to deny this news now because people will keep on writing about it. People like these mirch masalas – two girls working together cannot be friends. I’m not saying that Kangana and I are back-slapping buddies, but we really get along well and she was tremendous in Fashion,” says Priyanka. These issues, notwithstanding, Priyanka has lots to smile as Fashion set the cash registers ringing and she was also appreciated for her performance.

Now, she is now ready to set the screen on fire with Dostana.She says, “Dostana is a sensible comedy. It is funny, hilarious; it will have you falling off your seats but when you come out of the theatres, there will be a part of you which will say that it was a good film.”The svelte heroine adds: “It’s a story about three guys who love and adore each other and cannot live without each other and than what happens. It’s very urban, it’s today where men and women can go out and have dinner and be great friends. It is a film with a soul and there is a twist in the story about the boys being gay.”

In the same conversation, Priyanka hinted on the thought of her one day playing a lesbian character. She says, ““Why not? I would toy with the idea of playing a lesbian character if the role was well written and the script was rock solid. I’m all for equality and gay rights anyway.”

Priyanka plays a fashion journalist who shares her apartment with Abhishek and John. The two dupe her to rent her apartment on the pretext of being a gay couple. John, Abhishek and I are best friends in the film who do everything together. It’s a romantic comedy and a fun film about what happens in their lives,” the actress said. Asked if she had any apprehensions working with a debutant director, specially after a string of flops this year, Priyanka said: “Tarun is a fabulous friend of mine and an incredible director. When I first met him, I was a little scared.”I am a kind of person who asks a lot of questions. I test directors. I like asking and Tarun knew the answer to every question I asked. He blew my mind with his confidence and the commitment he had towards the film. By the end of the film, he’s become a really close friend of mine and I admire him as a filmmaker.” The former Miss World also says: “I definitely want to try singing. I might start with, maybe, a song in one of my films but I’m not sure when. But I definitely want to do it.”

The actress said she admired the blogging rage among celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan and Ram Gopal Varma, but added that she couldn’t take to it due to lack of time.”It’s such a great way to get closer to your fans. But I don’t know how they find time to blog because I hardly sleep for more than four hours. I really want to do it at some point because Karan (Johar) was also telling me it’s great… may be in a while when my schedule eases a little bit. I’ve had six releases this year, so it’s been insane for me.”
Priyanka is currently shooting for Vishal Bharadwaj’s Kaminay and Ashutosh Gowariker’s What’s Your Raashee, which she calls a “very complicated and difficult romantic comedy”.
She also has sequels to Farhan Akhtar’s Don - The Chase Begins Again and Goldie Behl’s Drona, apart from an item number opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Priyadarshan’s Billo Barber.

When Priyanka Chopra walked the ramp for the last time in Fashion she got a standing ovation from the audience at a theatre in Mumbai. But the one to get most emotionally moved was her dad, who broke down seeing his daughter’s performance.

Watching Priyanka play the small-town girl who leaves home to become a model in the metropolis in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion was a deeply emotional experience for Ashok Chopra on Wednesday.

“He just broke down. Watching my character Meghna inFashion, he saw his little girl from Jamshedpur going all the way to Mumbai to become Miss World.

In fact his sense of identification with that whole portion in Chandigarh where I’m this plump Punjabi girl leading a sheltered life with her parents, was very deep,” Priyanka said from Dubai where she attended the Fashion premiere on Thursday night.

“I identified deeply with those scenes where my character is trying to find her way in Mumbai. The only difference is my character Meghna knows exactly where she was going. I had no clue.

Also, my dad never stopped me from pursuing my dreams. He was concerned, yes. But never disapproving like Meghna’s father. In fact my dad moved to Mumbai to be with me when I decided to move to Mumbai,” she added.

Days after the film’s release, there’s a sense of outrage about the fashion industry being shown as a place of constant undercutting and heartbreak.

But Priyanka said: “It’s like that in any competitive field. We slogged hard on the research. Madhur and I gave our life and blood to the film. I was in discussions over the script with Madhur for five months before I said yes to Fashion.”

The Dubai premiere saw a few Bollywood members too as the cast of Do Knot Disturb were shooting in the city.

“We had David Dhawan, Lara Dutta and Riteish (Deshmukh) who were shooting in Dubai. Then we had the royalty from Dubai,” the actress said.

She added: “Earlier we had a special screening of Fashion for the modelling world in Mumbai. I had a ball catching up with the old times, screaming and shouting. The best thing is that the fashion industry supported us in such a big way.

People from the fashion industry love Fashion. We’ve definitely taken real-life incidents from the ramp. Even the wardrobe malfunction scene is so poignant. The designers, models, choreographers…they were all supportive.”

Model Carol Gracias, whose wardrobe malfunction incident has been incorporated into Fashion, saw the film and apparently liked the way it was handled.

“She loved the film. Carol thought it’s very classily done,” said Priyanka.

Then during her downfall, I am devoid of make- up. The resurrection portion is softer because she is scared and broken while trying to regain her self-confidence. We tried all those looks to keep different so that the character’s journey looks seamless through the film.”The much-awaited Fashion is a take on the Indian fashion industry and also stars Kangana Ranaut, debutante Mugdha Godse, Arbaaz Khan, Arjan Bajwa and many of the who’s who of the fashion fraternity.Taking on Meghna’s role was not a cakewalk for the beauty queen-turned-actress, as she had to go for method acting for her character.”I added on six kilograms to look like a girl from Punjab before shedding it off as the film progresses. I went through a learning process to make my character look real. I had to study the character to live it and the film is looking good,” Priyanka said.However, not many know that Priyanka was initially apprehensive of signing on for the project and kept it on hold for six months.”I said yes to Fashion after six months. I wasn’t sure about many things when it came to me.

Also, I wasn’t pretty sure about myself… whether I’d be able to do justice to the role or not. But Madhur showed immense confidence in me and I finally said yes,” she revealed.The actress was thrilled when she started working as she got to catch up with her old friends from the ramp world during the shooting.”I got to meet all my old friends - Nayonika (Chatterjee), Diandra (Soares), Bhawna (Sharma) and Lubna (Adams). I got to hang out with them. It brought back so much because Nayonika was the first one who taught me how to walk the ramp and I’ve always looked up to her with a lot of respect.”I knew if I was doing this film, she had to be on board. I begged her but she refused to come because she has a young daughter in Delhi and she couldn’t come to Mumbai for the entire duration of the film. But I insisted that she be there for every show in the film and she kindly obliged,” the actress said.The year so far hasn’t proved quite successful for Priyanka as all four of her releases - Love Story 2050, God Tussi Great Ho, Chamku and Drona - turned out to be box office duds. The actress, however, does not shy away from her failures and is optimistic about her career.

“Nobody can decide the destiny of a film. My films haven’t done well and I haven’t shied away from that. I don’t think failures really affect careers very much if you are good in the film,” she said.
Priyanka will be next seen in Dharma Productions’ Dostana and is also shooting for films like Kaminay and What’s Your Raashee.She also has sequels to Don - The Chase Begins Again and Drona already in her kitty apart from an item number opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Billo Barber.

“This isn’t the first time that I’ve done intimate scenes with my lead pair. There was an even more sensitive scene between Tabu and Atul Kulkarni in Chandni Bar. Page 3 had some really hard-hitting moments of sexual content. Fortunately for me, the actors trust me and my judgement,” the director said.”Priyanka surrendered completely to my vision. When you see her love scene with Arjan you’ll realise that there’s absolutely nothing there that’s meant to titillate,” he added.

Priyanka Chopra has just been signed up for a new product, Nokia and with it she becomes the actress with the maximum endorsements, what with Hero Honda, Lux, Ponds, J.Hampstead and many more already in her kitty. The actress, who is much in demand will also be on the cover of the latest Vogue issue.

With Shah Rukh Khan endorsing Tag Heuer and Nokia, both brands which also have Piggy Chops, one raises the question, “is SRK promoting Priyanka?” Perhaps yes, perhaps no…

While Priyanka may not have been voted the sexiest woman by any magazine or the hottest Indian woman, but Priyanka Chopra is not worried. What with John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan trying to woo her in reel life and Harman Baweja in real life, Piggy Chops is on cloud nine.

Priyanka says, “I am indeed living the best phase of my life.” Fashion is in the news and although it has got a A certificate from the censor board, the buzz is very much there. Admits Priyanka, “I was disappointed with A certificate, but I am sure the censor board knows best.”

A dampener for the actress, but certainly not enough to take the wind off her sails.