Bipasha Basu entered Bollywood with a bang in the 2001 hit “Ajnabee”, a Bolly-Holly interpretation of Consenting Adults (1992). Bipasha was nominated for three Bollywood awards including the Best Female Debut Award. Her club song “Mehbooba Mehbooba” with Akshay Kumar as a massive hit.
Bipasha made her breakthrough to Bollywood Stardom in the 2003 dark romantic thriller “Jism” (“Body”). Bipasha played the role of Sonia, a stunning young wife of a rich industrialist who often left her alone in the idyllic Indo-French town of Pondicherry. She meets Kabir, an unsuccessful young lawyer who is trying to find himself. Before he knows it, Kabir (played superbly by John Abraham) has been seduced by Sonia and actually believes that he is seducing her. Sonia tells Kabir her woes and chivalrous Kabir wants to rescue Sonia from her husband. Kabir ends up killing Sonia’s husband in a late night incident at Sonia’s house. What happens to Kabir and Sonia’s relationship after that is to be seen in the film and not described!
Very few female actors could have carried the role of Sonia, both emotionally and physically. Bipasha played the perfect Black Widow. Her performance in the final scene with Kabir was superb. When she says to him “Yeh Jism Pyar karna nahin janata hai Kabir; yeh janata hai sirf bhuk, apni bhuk“. (“this body does not understand love, Kabir; it only understands hunger, its hunger”), you totally believe her. I cannot think of a better performance as a mesmerizing, dangerous woman.
Jism was a commercial success and it was critically acclaimed. The music of Jism was a huge hit. Each song was visually exquisite, poetically perfect and sung superbly. Shreya Goshal won the Best Playback Singer award for “Jadoo Hai Nasha Hai”
The first step towards Kabir’s seduction is the beautiful song “Chalo tumko le kar chale un fizao mein” (“Come let me take you in to those heavens”)
(Chalo Tumko Le Kar Chale)
John Abraham has done a terrific job with his role. The song below (with subtitles) showcases his persona effectively.
(Awarapan Banjarapan)
If you have not seen Jism, get the DVD and watch this superb film.
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