Ruchi Sharma

A 20-year-old child-like femme fatale.

That would possibly best describe Reema Sen best.

Then again, you could call her a smart girl who knows exactly what she doesn't want. And how to go about not getting it. Clear thoughts. Direct speech. Blunt replies. Honest self-examination. All of the above phrases suit her to a tee. Quite a talker, too.

Not even one film old, Reema has got more than her share of publicity. Most of it for wrong reasons, she is quick to admit. A stray incident about her refusing to do the bungee jump twice did the rounds, and she was clubbed 'difficult'.

"It isn't fair at all to ask me to do something like bungee jumping. I just can't do these things. I was so scared but still I did it once. But then they actually told me that the camera wasn't rolling and that I would have to do it again. No way man. It's too frightening," she says, shuddering at the recollection.

But that has shot her into the limelight more than the fact that she is doing two films -- one with Fardeen Khan and another with Sunny Deol. "Well,I know. But what can I do about it?" she says.

Moving to her films, Reema is doing Hum Ho Gaye Aapke with Fardeen Khan, Apoorva Agnihotri and Suman Ranganathan. And Jaal, with Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Tabu.

A lead role isn't easy to find, even if you have made huge waves in the South. Which she has with Minnale and Chitram. So how did she land these roles in Hindi?

"I am seriously lucky. Especially the one in Hum. It is not a role meant for a newcomer. There's none of the usual formulae applied to a heroine of a film.

"No raunchy number, no dance tracks, nothing. It's a very quiet sober role. And I personally think it is a character that people can identify with. It's very everyday in its approach and method.

"A simple love story that makes no bones about romance and life," she says.

Starring with Fardeen Khan, Reema has come across endless envious emotions from people who would love to be in her shoes.

"It's really funny. Fardeen is just a normal person like all of us. Very sweet to everyone, but is basically reserved. He takes time to get comfortable and needs to have his space. People often tell me how lucky I am to be working with him. He also says it sometimes," she laughs.

Jaal has her playing a spoilt brat who is conned by Sunny Deol in an action-thriller. And that is all she will reveal about the film, she says, apologetically. "Once again, I managed to get lucky with this film. They were looking for a fresh face.

"Fortunately for me, I have done a lot of advertisements and still managed not to get typecast," she elaborates. "Also, by the time I reached the stage of doing films, I had done enough ads to know all about basic camera work, make-up and things like that. So I knew how to portray what was asked of me," she says, earnestly.

About Sunny Deol, she is very clear, "He pampered me to the limit. What can I say? Everyone asks me what he is like. He is also an introvert but a very nice person. And yes, before you ask, he does look a lot older than me. But he is supposed to look that way in the film. His role requires it," she claims.

With no background in the film industry, Reema should have found the going tough, but it wasn't so, she insists. And not just because people kept mixing her up with Moon Moon Sen's daughter, "I am past finding it funny now. People even misspell my name," she says.

"I firmly believe in destiny. When I started out, it was just doing a portfolio back home in Calcutta. Then I started getting ads, and then a film. Let's be honest here, I was never any good academically.

"So when I got offered my first film, I knew that this was what I would be doing," she says.

"It isn't my scene to go around asking for work. And I am not saying that I have ego hassles but things just happened with me one after the other. There was no real gap in terms of my not getting work.

"Fate and destiny play a large role in all our lives. I have realized that no matter how hard I try for something, sometimes, I just don't get it. And sometimes, when I least expect something, it falls into my lap. Luckily, I learned this early on. So I really don't break my head over anything much.

"If it has to be, it has to. No one can stop it," she says, with conviction.

What about her family? "I come from a conservative, very orthodox family. And like any other family, they didn't want me in this industry initially. But when things began to roll, it was fine. More so since I didn't really get where I am on the strength of any scandal or anything like that," she says, bluntly.

"And I have done pretty decently. I have a home, three cars. I get to travel the world and get paid for it all. What more could I ask for, really?" she says, candidly.

For a girl from an average little home in Calcutta, Reema Sen hasn't done too badly for herself.

Back to her career. After being a huge hit in the South, rumour has it that she has forgotten all about the industry that made her famous to begin with. "That isn't true," she retorts.

"Look, I simply don't have the time to take on any new projects. I have done just three films. Of those, one is yet to be released. That's the one with Nag (Nagarujuna).

"I shoot exhaustively, and I want to concentrate on one thing at a time. Too much will only get me mixed up."