I hate being in a bracket: Lara Dutta

I want to be in a film which has a slice of India or has me playing a character with a particular identity and not just a face from the East: Lara Dutta

Former Miss Universe Lara Dutta says that though she has been getting quite a few interesting offers from Hollywood, she has reasons for not taking them up.

“A lot of interesting stuff is developing from the Hollywood front, but it is difficult for an Asian or Indian actress to make a mark and grow in their industry as it is a Caucasian-dominated industry," Lara told DNA in an interview.

"Few others like Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, or Salma Hayek have been able to land meaty roles. There are several Asian stars there, but they too are mostly doing big budget films whose plot is set in Asia, thereby giving them opportunity to do such movies with Asian characters.”

The svelte actor adds: “Many Hollywood films want to sign up an Indian star for a ten-minute 'exotic face from the East' quotient in the film. I’m not interested in doing such films.

I want to be in a film which has a slice of India or has me playing a character with a particular identity and not just a face from the East. I would love to act in Hollywood but not just for the sake of it, just to show people that I have done a Hollywood movie.”

Lara is kicked about her forthcoming film Jumbo, an animated movie that has Akshay Kumar in it. It marks her debut in the animation world.

“I had never done the voice-over for an animation film before and I loved the experience thoroughly. We all do roles that are hot and sexy, roles that display our character acting skills, but not everyday do we get a film in which you can be a pink elephant with a flower in your hair.

The idea is so cute. I took it up as I love doing different things as an actor. I don’t want to be labelled and hate being put in a bracket,” she says.

According to Lara, “India has a great market for animated films and, thankfully, people have realised that animation does not just have a niche audience. In fact, the junior audience in the industry is the fastest growing segment.

I play a gutsy elephant which sometimes has more courage than even the male characters. So, this role is quite up my alley.”