Bipasha Basu denies her past with a poker face, and tells us what makes her an easy target for stalkers from Mumbai to Moscow
It has taken her a while, but Bipasha Basu is making an effort to put her life back on track post her breakup with John Abraham. With Raaz 3 billed a ‘commercial success’ and her next, another supernatural thriller, up for release, Bipasha says she is looking to put her past behind her.
And that could well refer to those baffling and disturbing reports of her ‘stalkers’ that seem to have been dogging her since 2009, when she complained of being stalked in Jaipur. From Mumbai to Moscow and even in the US, Bipasha claims her stalkers follow her everywhere. Including her gym in Bandra.
The stalking paranoia apart, the 34-year-old breaks out in a cold sweat when she finds herself in a crowded place. At a recent event, she walked into the venue that was teeming with fans. Instead of making the most of the opportunity, she scrambled after giving the organisers an earful about bad management. She claims her condition needs clinical attention. But we will never know.
Is Bipasha genuinely struggling to fend off lecherous men? Or is it just another ill-conceived PR strategy? We decided to grill the actress on the matters of the mind, the heart and her biggest fears.
Interesting times for you…
Yes, my next film, Aatma is a human drama. It’s all about a parent’s attachment to her child. And then, I have plans to produce films. I should start on that by end of this year. I am meeting scriptwriters. I have zeroed down on three stories; one of them should shape up soon. And it will be a strategic alliance; after all, I am not an Ambani.
Oh yes, you are in love too. Aren’t you dating Harman?
I have gone out with him, but that doesn’t mean we are in a relationship. We have common friends. Harman is a very nice guy, fun and friendly. I bond with him. The heart decides and the heart needs time.
What is it about you being stalked everywhere you go?
Do I have no other work? Recently, it happened in a Bandra gym. That guy was staring at me. I was so angry that I wanted to punch him, but he fled (pauses).
Go on…
Girls go through this from childhood. Staring at someone and admiring someone are two different things. You don’t need to be told who is your admirer and who has wrong intentions. The time has come to discipline them, but I missed the chance a couple of times.
Why is it that the only time we hear of you, it is only in this context?
What are you incriminating? It happens with everyone, perhaps it happened to me more because I go out alone, whether for shopping or a haircut. I don’t have an entourage with me.
Well, you can change it…
No way. I love my freedom. I don’t want anybody breathing down my neck.
With so many cases of stalking…why haven’t you filed a police complaint yet?
Police? First let someone attack me then I will hit back and the police will come into the picture.
Are you afraid of crowded places?
Yes. I had some really bad incidents in Jaipur and Delhi a few years back. And the fear of a crowd started from those days. You have to see the crowds at these events to understand. I fear mobs, events.
But organisers pay a bomb and you seem to fall for it…
Yeah. But you know what? All these guys guarantee us top security measures on emails. And when you reach there, it all collapses in no time. Think of it, it doesn’t happen like that abroad, you really trust the security overseas. And you break down, when people start closing in, it’s terribly scary. Like when we went for a SRK show in Jakarta, the whole stadium descended on us. People caught us and literally threw us back on stage. It’s not all that easy.
Let’s talk about John Abraham…
Who? I don’t know that person.
