'I love being known as a sex symbol'

Dressed in lemon yellow hot pants and a tee, Minissha Lamba, curled up on the sofa while her hair dresser kept easing, twisting and turning around her shoulder-length tresses with a blower throughout the interview, at her plush apartment in a Mumbai suburb.

Minissha started her journey in Bollywood with a small-budget film called Yahaan. Her subsequent releases, Anthony Kaun Hai and Shaurya did not do much for her. Had it not been for Sanjay Gadhvi's Kidnap and Yash Raj's Bachna Ae Haseeno, the promising actress would have been lost in B-grade flicks.

Kidnap and Bachna upped her sex quotient, even as her sultry bikini-look wowed and surprised herself and others.

In her own words, "People started seeing me in a different light. I associate change with growth. And I have no qualms about being known as a sex symbol. In fact, I loved it.

After the movies released, friends who have known me for years, said they didn't know that I could pull off something like that. It made me feel very happy and satisfied. You don't know what works for you until you try it out. I am swimmer and have been in costume, in pools, with people around. So, I would be a hypocrite to say I can't do a bikini on screen. My only worry was to achieve that toned look."

And achieve, she did.

Now, this saree-to-bikini babe is all set to reverse the trend, already.

"In Shyam Benegal's Well Done Abba, I will be going from bikini to burkha." Minissha is playing Boman Irani's daughter in the film.

For a girl who admits to have grown up reading Mills and Boon, it is surprising to find that she is a traditionalist and would never make the first move. "Even if I had a strong crush on someone I would never make the first move. The guy would have to make two, three, four first moves," she giggles.

"I believe the guy needs to do the chasing, make the moves, set things up, etc. In that way I am conservative and a traditionalist. I would like a guy to do things to surprise me, whisk me away. He has to be inventive. The usual candlelight dinner on the beach is a bit too staid for me. It could anything from planning a trip, like diving together, to introducing me to something new, to opening me up to a new experience. If I were to give suggestions for the date, it would be going for a movie, heading to a coffee shop after that, staying out all night, then heading to the beach at 5 am to watch the sunrise and getting into the water when no one else is around.

A great conversation turns me on completely. I love to meet men who can engage me like that. Then, I am wired. It is the best high for me. Else, I tune out very easily in a social environment.

And what kind of men are a complete no-no in her life?

"Men who show-off, brag and are not real."

"I was such an avid consumer of Mills and Boon that I even wrote three chapters of my own version once. However, now I have outgrown chick flicks and rom-com's. I need a nice emotional drama to keep me engaged. I also love watching period films, war films, spy thrillers, dramas and regular thrillers.

I love to do things that give me an adrenaline rush, like bungee jumping. I also learnt kite surfing recently. It took me 10 days to learn to manoeuver a kite. It is quite dangerous. But it was great fun.