This is not a Shah Rukh kind of role: Karisma

Karisma Kapoor seems very upbeat on the sets of her film, Mere Jeevan Saathi. This is her fourth film with director Suneel Darshan, after Ek Rishta: The Bond Of Love, Jaanwar, and Ajay.

The actress, who got married on September 29 last year to Delhi-based industrialist Sanjay Kapur, has said that 'marriage is the most beautiful thing that happened to me' and exhorted everyone to 'just go for it!'

But unlike most actresses who retire after marriage, Karisma says she has been getting a lot of film offers. "But I have become very choosy," she says. "I cannot do the same thing again and again. Next month, I will announce two new films.

"If I want, I can do 10 films at a time and keep myself busy. But I don't like doing that. I want to do good work.

"I did films like Zubiedaa and Shakti when my career was at its peak. People asked me why I was doing art films, but I replied what is the point in doing those kinds of films only when your career is sliding? I must experiment with such films when my career is at its peak.

"Though the films didn't do well at the box office, people told me that I performed very well. Ultimately, I want to be creatively satisfied."

Karisma is playing an unusual character in Mere Jeevan Saathi. "I have never done this before," she says. "It has grey shades, but, at the same time, is a very human kind. Generally, our films show that everything is good in life, but not this one. But this is not a Shah Rukh Khan kind of Baazigar or Darr role. The film has some glamorous scenes for me."

Mere Jeevan Saathi also stars Akshay Kumar and Amisha Patel. The film has been in the making for a couple of years. Asked about the delay, Karisma answers, "Raja Hindustani was completed in three years and it was one of the biggest blockbusters. This film is under production for 18 months only and we hope to finish by October 2004. There is no rule that a film has to be completed in three or six months. If it takes time to be complete, there is nothing wrong with it."

Karisma had first worked with Suneel Darshan's brother Dharmesh in Raja Hindustani, the film that brought the actress into the reckoning. After three films together, Karisma has a great rapport with Suneel. "We have a emotional bond and are also family friends," she says.

Karisma's television show opened with much publicity, especially when the serial was taken to court by US-based novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. Unfortunately, the show did not live up to expectation and is not faring well.

But Karisma believes otherwise. "There is another way to look at it," she argues. "I have completed 145 episodes so far and the serial has not been taken off the air. If it was doing badly, it would have been off the air in 15 episodes! I think the serial is picking up."

The serial sees Karisma in three avatars: a young girl, a woman, and an old woman. And she does not think her old character is a hindrance to the show's popularity. "I also play three characters who are 16, 30 and 40 years old. I come on television because people do not go to the theatres to watch films. So I thought it is better to enter their homes through television," she smiles.

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