When I meet Neetu Chandra in sweltering and scorching heat on location in Bhopal where she is shooting for director Gary Grewal’s maiden venture as a director- Khusar Prasad Ka Bhoot in which she has been teamed opposite Randeep Hooda, she is excited about her role in the film. “I play the role of Chabeeli, a woman of loose character in Khusar Prasad Ka Bhoot. What is interesting is the fact that I am the only girl in the entire film. Chabili is liked by all the characters in the film. Everyone in the film tries all the time to hit on me. Thanks to the script, I am now having the opportunity to do a performance oriented role in Khusar Prasad Ka Bhoot. It is my fourth film with Paresh Rawal, with whom I had acted in my very first film Garam Masala”, exclaims an excited Neetu. Neetu is of the opinion that her role as Chabili in Khusar Prasad Ka Bhoot is quite different from her earlier roles till date. “It is a big transition for me as an actress if you just compare my role in Khusar Prasad Ka Bhoot with my earlier characters in earlier films. It is totally opposite to the character I did in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Traffic signal or for that matter the character of the Haryanvi lady cop that I played in Ashwani Dheer’s One Two Three. The best thing about my character in this film is that mostly I have got to deliver my dialogues on the louder side through my eyes”, explains Neetu. Neetu says that she preferred to be launched as one of the three girls in Garam Masala instead of waiting for a big break as a solo heroine. “I am from a film background. Priyan Sir chose to give me a break with a big banner,” goes on the charming lady, “If I had done a solo lead, I do not think anyone would have come to watch me in the film. In Garam Masala, I had two big leading men like Akshay Kumar and John Abraham to lure the audiences to the theaters. I preferred to have a safe launch like Garam Masala after having appeared as a super model in several ads including Parker, Minto, and Reliance etc. Priyan Sir had directed the Parker ad in which I had the privilege to appear alongside with Amitabh Bachchan”. Neetu asserts that her glamorous post Garam Masala image almost affected her prospects in films. She further adds, “Though I had acted in a serious role in the play Aao Saathi Sapna Dekhe directed by Swanand Kirkire who had composed the music for Parineeta, I started getting roles which needed me to appear in a bikini after Garam Masala since I had projected a glamorous image in the film. In fact the image with which I was saddled after Garam Masala actually almost affected my career prospects since there were people who even tried to scare Madhur by telling him that it was wrong on his part to cast a girl like me in a deglamorised role in his film Traffic Signal”. After having played a glamorous role in Priyadarshan’s Garam Masala, Neetu is glad that she played a deglamorised role in Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Traffic Signal, though several so called well wishers of hers advised her that it was a suicidal move on the part of a newcomer like her to take up an arty role like that. Adds Neetu, “I am glad I received accolades for my performance in Traffic Signal. I am now acting in Rahul Dholakia’s Mumbai Cutting, believe it or not, in yet another path breaking as well as deglamorised role as a housemaid, with an entirely different dimension”. Neetu admits that it was tough to play a housemaid in Mumbai Cutting. “It is for the first time that I have played the role of a housemaid in Mumbai Cutting. I have not touched make up at all throughout the film. There are two brilliant actors from the theater in the film, but they have not been cast opposite me. Even in Traffic Signal, I had to apply a tanned make up whereas in Mumbai Cutting I shunned make up to get into the skin of the character”, Neetu explains her serious approach towards her characters. Neetu is now acting in a Tamil film called Yaavarum Nalam as R. Madhavan’s wife. The actress asserts, “It is a horror thriller film backed by Reliance Adlabs and directed by Vikram from the South. It is being made in two languages - Hindi and Tamil. The Hindi version has been titled ‘Flat No 13 B’. Poonam Dhillon plays my mother in law in the film”. Neetu is playing the role of a college student in Dibankar Bannnerjee’s Oye Lucky Lucky Oye opposite Abhay Deol. “It is an out and out commercial movie from the stable of Dibankar who had made his debut with a brilliant film like Khosla Ka Ghosla. I play Abhay’s love interest in the film. I play a second year college girl. It is Abhay’s story but I play an important role since I change him in the film which was shot in Manali. Paresh Rawal is also playing a very important role in the film,” the lady adds on offers being showered on her. Neetu, who is happy that she has proved to be a good survivor in this industry considering the fact that she has made it here without the help of any God father and does not have any filmy connections to work for her, is game to do item numbers, too. “I am game to do item numbers today. Why not? Today I feel that item numbers are great because not every one can do it with finesse. Raakhee Sawant, Mallika Sherawat and Aishwarya Rai would not have been able to deliver their item numbers if they did not know dancing. Today there are instances where films which remain unsold are snapped up by distributors if an item number is added to them”, Neetu clears up the matter. Neetu asserts that she is not at all insecure considering there is stiff competition in the film industry, because she has confidence in her mettle as an actor. “I am basically a sports person and have the killing instinct because of that. The role that I did in One Two Three was offered to different actresses including Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy. Since I do not want to limit myself, I grabbed the role though I felt that it was a stupid role. My gamble paid off when the critics showered their praises on me for my performance in the film”, sums up Neetu.