'I'm not involved with Shahid'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><script language="javascript">doweshowbellyad=0; </script></div> <div align="left" style="position:relative; left: -2"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" align="left" border="1" width="58.1%"> <colgroup> <col width="100.0%" /> </colgroup> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><a href="javascript:popUp(&quot1;/photopop/msid-97851,type-0.cms&quot1;)"> <img border="0" align="left" src="/thumb.cms?msid=97851&height=193&width=193" hspace="12" /></a></div> </td> </tr> <tr valign="top"> <td width="100.0%" colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="" valign:="" top="" background-color:="" f3f3f3=""> <div class="Normal"><span style="" font-size:="">Click to enlarge</span></div> </td> </tr> </table></div> <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. <br /><br />"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 /><br /><formid=367815><br /></formid=367815></div> </div>