With the Bond girl

The famous Italian Bond girl, who played the lover of Daniel Craig in ‘Casino Royale’, Caterina Murino was in the city for the promotion of her first Indian movie ‘Fever’. Here, she plays a character with much suspense surrounding it. In a conversation with Mallika Jesudasan, she talks about her role in the movie and her experience of working in Bollywood for the first time.

What is your role in the film?

I play Rajeev Khandelwal’s  lover in the film and it’s a very complicated role. You really won’t understand it till you watch it on screen. The story itself is quite complicated and one will definitely need to use their mind to be able to understand and fully grasp the story and the role I play. I would say the movie is a big puzzle with my role being a suspense on its own.

How did you end up choosing a Hindi movie?

I received two movie offers but the Hollywood one didn’t work out for various reasons. When I received Rajeev Jhaveri’s offer, I was hoping that the script would be good and it turned out to be brilliant indeed. It was definitely a refreshing experience to work in a new industry.

How was it working with Rajeev?

It was an amazing feeling. He was like my mirror, a soul mate of sorts I would say. He is no usual actor and it was definitely a really wonderful experience working with a person like him. It was nice to work with him as he is easy to get along with.

You’re the first Italian and first Bond girl to be working with the Bollywood industry. How does it feel and what are the differences you find here?

The Bollywood industry has been very good to me. I have enjoyed being a part of ‘Fever’, which is a thriller, and I love doing films like this. There is no difference between acting in Hollywood and acting in Bollywood. At the end of the day, it is the same camera and the same type of acting. One needs to just be able to exchange feelings on screen and act according to the role handed over to them and that never changes anywhere in the world, be it a Chinese, an Italian or a Hindi film. I am very proud to be a part of ‘Fever’.

Which Hindi films have you watched?

I’ve not watched too many movies as not many are screened where I live. However, I’ve seen ‘Devdas’ and ‘Salaam Bombay!’. I’m hoping to add more to that list soon.

This was your first visit to India. How was your experience?

I’ve actually always wanted to visit India with a bunch of my friends. This time, I went to so many cities like Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru but didn’t have the time to actually visit any of the places in these. So I will return soon to explore the country in its truest form. I was a little disappointed to shoot the film in Switzerland and had hoped to stay longer in India. I am very sad as I will be leaving India soon, but will come back to visit again.