Bipasha happily take the cut for Ajay Devgn

By Subhash K Jha

It's never happened to her before. Though once in Phir Hera Pheri her voice had been dubbed without her permission and she was understandably upset, in her new release Aakrosh Bipasha Basu's role has been cut substantially.

And Bipsha is not sulking!

In fact she seems quite happy to be in the shadows.

Chuckles the actress, “I knew from the start that my role was comparatively small. But I wanted to be part of this film because I believed in it.When I saw the complete film for the first time with my family and friends earlier this week I realized my role had been edited out even more. Now I'm hardly there. Important things that I had shot have been removed.”

Naturally Bipasha's family and friends were disappointed.

Says the actress, “I quickly took charge of the situation in the theatre and told them to watch Aakrosh as an Ajay Devgn film. I told my friends, 'Hey guys. just enjoy the film for Ajay. Forget I'm there'. Sometimes it's important to be part of a film that says something important.

We live in the cities and half the time we don't even know what's going on in the backward areas. We city folks live a blinkered life. As an actor I am ashamed to

say I'm not aware of the world as much as I should be.”

Aakrosh opened Bipasha's eyes to a reality she didn't know existed. “Though my role is the blink-and-miss kind I've no regrets about doing it. The greatest of actors do walk-on parts when they believe in a project. Aamir Khan entered Taare Zameen Par at mid-point. And John (Abraham) insisted on being a small part of Sooni Taraporewala's Little Zizou because it was about football.”