Udita will always be my support system

Actor Udita Goswami and filmmaker Mohit Suri split after she moved to Los Angeles. But the Murder 2 director insists she will always be his support system. Ask him if they are still in touch and he says: “Yes. She even stood by me after my father’s demise last month. We will always share a great rapport.”

Apparently, long distance became too much to handle for the couple. Last year, it was reported that Mohit was all set to marry Udita, but only if his film, Crook: It’s Good To Be Bad, turned out to be a success. Unfortunately, the Emraan Hashmi-starrer didn’t work at the box office.

“I don’t want to get into details about what went wrong. But the biggest problem is that we’re both very busy with our respective careers. Still, she has been extremely happy about the success of Murder 2. Udita will always be my support system,” says Suri.

“Finally, the feeling of delivering a big hit has started to sink in. I am, of course, excited about it. I lost my father last month. But I really wish he had seen my success too,” says the filmmaker, who has directed films like Kalyug (2005), Woh Lamhe (2006) and Raaz: The Mystery Continues (2009) in the past.

“I feel such a success (Murder 2) was long overdue. I have been making films since 2005 and although some have worked, I never witnessed such a euphoric response to any of them,” says Suri, who feels the film has done well due to the positive attitude of a few people involved with Murder 2.

“I am really thankful to Emraan, Mukeshji and Bhattsaab. I was always confident about my work,” he says, adding that Murder 3 is surely happening. “We are still working on the script. But I can promise more blood, gore, sensuality and drama in the next part,” he laughs.

“Emraan will surely be a part of it because people associate Murder with him, but no leading lady is fixed yet. For us, the script is the most important entity,” says Mohit, adding that he is going to take a break now. “I plan to visit all my school friends in the US before starting work again,” he wraps up.

Murder 2 was do or die for me: Mohit Suri

The director says Mahesh Bhatt had threatened not to make a movie with him if 'Murder 2' hadn't done well! 

Mohit Suri is heaving a sigh of relief now. Apparently, Mahesh Bhatt had threatened not to make a movie with him if his "Murder 2" didn't do well at the box-office. Now that the film has been hugely successful at the box-office, the director is happy and relieved.

Ask Mohit if he had expected that the film would be such a huge hit and he says, "I believed in the movie. I knew it didn't fall into the regular and typical Bollywood films. So, I went all out and made it. I was not listening to the so-called industry people. And it worked."

As to whether he had expected the movie to garner this kind of returns in comparison to its budget, the director says, "Well, I had expected it to do well and had wished that it would break all records for our company. But, I didn't know that it actually would. I hadn't tasted success like this to ever imagine that "Murder 2" would be so big a hit. Bhatt saab had distributed sweets even before the movie had released. But then, I was nervous.

It was do or die for me. Bhatt saab had, in fact, said they won't make a movie with me again if this film didn't do well. It was scary."

Now that "Murder 3" is in the pipeline, has he thought about the casting? Will Prashant Narayanan, whose serial killer act been highly appreciated there in the next movie in this franchise? "Nothing has been decided as yet. But Emraan will be there for sure," he signs off.

I'm shifting base to LA: Udita Goswami

Actor Udita Goswami speaks to TOI about her Hollywood experience, moving bag and baggage to Los Angeles, Mohit Suri and much more. 

Now that you are back from Los Angels, tell us how was the experience?
It's been two days since I'm in India and trust me I already want to go back there. I had a wonderful time.

So was the trip productive in anyway?
Absolutely. I was supposed to be there for 21 days but I ended up staying for two months. I had a lot of work lined up for me in India. But when I was invited to the Oscar week festivities, which is a big deal there, I decided to stay on. Honestly, I thought it was once in a lifetime chance and I shouldn't miss it. Thanks to my stay there, I met a lot of people from Hollywood, hired a manager, publicist and lawyer. So it was extremely productive.

Buzz has it that you have become very pally with actor Gerard Butler, who was rumored to be dating Priyanka Chopra?
Why just Gerard? I've made friends with a lot of folks from Hollywood. I'm in touch with them constantly. I discovered that they are a lot sweeter and simpler than many of our B-Town people. Plus, I'm not into the name dropping game. You don't go to a private party and micro-blog your pictures from there — with Gerard or any other celeb. It's cheap and tacky.

So are you planning to shift base now?
Yes. I have plans of going back there in August or September. I have done my groundwork. I've looked at places I could shift to and plan to take driving lessons. My secretary here almost wanted to kill me when I was delaying my return to Mumbai because I was having so much fun there. The only reason that I'm back in India is to work on my American accent.

Considering most of our top actors have failed to make a splash in Hollywood films, why are you willing to take such a risk?
For someone like me, who hardly does any work here, I think it's a good idea to move to LA. The thing that works for me there is that I don't look Indian. Here, this was my biggest disadvantage because my looks didn't fall in the Vidya, Rani, and Konkona bracket. The kind of roles that I have been offered in Hollywood is of the exotic variety. I could pass off as a Spanish woman, according to them. Plus, there aren't many Indian roles happening in English movies. Since I don't have the typical 'Indian beauty' look and don't have much work here, I don't see the reason why I shouldn't move there.

Back home, reportedly your ex Mohit Suri and Vishal Mahadkar came to blows over you. Mohit has blamed Vishal for his split with you.
It's very strange. I just got back two days ago and here I am reading about this in the papers. It is interesting to know that two men are fighting over me. But let anyone fight, I don't care anymore.