'I'm happy just as I am'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Kareena Kapoor is thrilled. Not at her alleged affair with Shahid Kapur (which she refutes anyway), but with her role in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Chameli</span>.<br /><br />"The story is very realistic. I went to Kamathipura and talked to sex-workers. I learnt the way they talk, the way they dress up and even observed minute things such as their fingernails," says Kareena.<br /><br />Isn''t it a risk for a mainstream actress to portray such a role? "When the role was first offered to me a year and a half ago, I had reservations about the character. I was busy doing mainstream movies. A year later, I was asked if I was interested. By that time, I had decided to branch out and do ''good'' movies."<br /><br />Kareena, who also has Govind Nihalani''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Dev</span>, Mani Ratnam''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Yuva</span>, Dharmesh Darshan''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Bewafaa</span> and Abbas-Mastan''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Aitraaz</span> lined up, says that it is not as if she wants to divert to offbeat films. "As an actress, it is satisfying to do a variety of roles to satisfy my creative urges." Then why did she turn down Madhur Bhandarkar''s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Page 3</span>? "I was interested, but he wanted to start shooting immediately and I had date problems."<br /><br />Despite some of her movies not working, Kareena is still one of the most sought-after heroines. "Yeah, that''s strange! Maybe I did some good work in my previous life," she says, "But there is no substitute for hard work." <br /><br />And what about her alleged affair with Shahid? "There is no such affair. I am happy as I am." What you see is what you get. Far away from her image in the reel world, Kareena Kapoor leads a ''real'' life.<br /><span style="" font-style:="" italic="">delhitimes@indiatimes.com</span></div> </div>