Was hesitant to play a vamp in 'Zanjeer': Mahie Gill

Mumbai: Actress Mahie Gill, who plays the new-age vamp Mona Darling in the remake of 'Zanjeer', was initially sceptical as she was not confident of pulling off a glamorous role and wearing a bikini. Bindu played the iconic character Mona Darling in the original 1973 film.

"It is an iconic character played by Binduji. It is a glamorous role. When I was first offered the role I had refused to do this role as I felt I won't be able to do justice to it. I was not confident of doing it. This was a glamorous role something that I had not done in my earlier films," Mahie told PTI in an interview.

"It was about the kind of clothes I was asked to wear. Hence, I was sceptical of doing the role earlier. I was little hesitant. This is for the first time that I would be playing a glamorous role," said Mahie, who is best known for her role in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed film 'Dev D'.

"They wanted me to wear a bikini, about which I was not confident. I was confident not if I could carry it off. But in this film people will get to see a different side of me, I will be seen wearing gowns and etc," she said.

Mahie said her character, which constantly tries to seduce the villain Teja, played by Prakash Raj, has touches of modernity.

"There are interesting scenes and the chemistry between Prakash Raj and me is on display. She (Mona darling) is today's vamp, a modern day vamp. My role has been portrayed in a different manner than Binduji's character in the original

film," she said.

Mahie said that once she agreed for the role, she enjoyed playing her part.

"For this film I had to look good. I have been presented in a totally different way in 'Zanjeer' remake. I enjoyed it thoroughly, it was a different experience."

The original film had Ajit play the arch-villain Teja while for the remake version, Prakash Raj has been roped in.

The 1973 film, directed and produced by Prakash Mehra, starred Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan and Pran, among others.

Southern actor Ram Charan Teja, son of filmstar-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, will step into Bahchan's shoes as the angry young man. Priyanka Chopra will do Jaya Bachchan's part and Sanjay Dutt will play Pran's iconic character Sher Khan.

The remake version, directed by Apoorva Lakhia, is likely to hit cinema houses in May.

Mahie is known for doing less glamorous roles in films like 'Dev D' and 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster', among others.

"I feel as an actor I must take challenging and different roles. I am here to perform. The role in 'Zanjeer' is quite challenging and I thought of accepting the challenge."

"In 'Bullet Raja' I did an item song; this is again something that does not fall in my zone. But I accepted the challenge. Now my other challenges are to do a comedy and an action film," Mahie said.