She is a free spirit, she is sexy and she speaks her mind. Bollywood has been no easy catwalk for her, but Lisa Haydon has the spunk and the spirit to break the icequeen image, which she claims is just a “perception“. In an interview with BT, she talks about her Housefull 3 gang, and how she bonded with the gals and became buddies with the boys. Lisa unabashedly adds that she doesn't like the word feminist. Wonder why? Read on...

We believe it was team boys vs team girls on the film's set...
That's the way it started out in the beginning. Somehow Jacqueline (Fernandez), Nargis (Fakhri) and I struck a chemistry instantly. Our equation was so good that we just wouldn't stop chatting. Abhishek (Bachchan) called us the 'gaggle', like a gaggle of geese (laughs). I think all of us make a great team. Akshay (Kumar) is known to be a prankster, but Riteish (Deshmukh) my onscreen protector and boyfriend Teddy, also ganged up on me. Abhishek is witty and has a sarcastic sense of humour. He would have been the team captain or group leader if we were in school.

So do you relate more with Abhishek's sense of humour?
Abhishek is witty and it takes you a few seconds to catch what he is saying. Akshay, on the other hand, is more into practical jokes, which is unnerving as you don't know what is coming up. While these actors play pranks on others, they also have the ability to laugh at themselves. They are the first ones to act completely pathetic. We think about not crossing the line during shooting, but this film has crossed those barriers in most parts, because the whole premise of the film is that these guys pretend to be what they are not. Housefull 3 is not meant to be taken seriously, but is meant to be laughed at.

It's rare to find actresses enjoying such camaraderie in Bollywood?
It's good to take your work seriously, but it is nicer and more pleasant when everyone is get ting along. Why would you ruin your own happiness for two months? It's such a pain in the ass. Everyone has insecurities but it's not worth bringing that nonsense to work. Besides, the best person to compete with is yourself. If you do your best work, then it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing.

Do you find it difficult to fit in as the quintessential Bollywood heroine?
I don't really know what that means. If it's about romantic lead, I would agree with you. I find romancing on screen very awkward, it's rehearsed love but that's not the reason I have not done it yet. If that comes my way, I will embrace it as part of my job. Having said that, I would love to do an action film. I don't see myself as a conventional or an unconventional actress. I am just an individual trying to carve a niche for myself that nobody else can fill.

Models still find it difficult to crack Bollywood?
Models get clubbed together as cattle and it's very difficult to rise in that crabs-in-a-basket concept, as everyone expects equal treatment. But if I am working harder than somebody else and I am juggling different balls, it feels bad when you are put in the same league and standards. In modelling, some girls have been working for the last 15 years and they are still in the same cycle of what they have been doing. It is too big a pool and I am not going to travel with the herd. I need to pave my own way.

You mentioned somewhere that you share a karmic connection with Kangana (Ranaut). What do you have say about the recent Kangana-Hrithik controversy?
I don't wish to talk about it as that happened two years ago. I never said that I share a karmic connection with her. Regarding the controversy, I have been travelling so much that I have no idea what's going on.

We heard that you don't like being called 'hot'?
I enjoy being called hot and attractive, but it gets offensive when you are putting so much more out there and all people do is pick up on that particular aspect of your personality. We are judgmental and are innately programmed to see what we see. I don't know if it's a societal norm that people don't look beyond physical appearances. Well, I think they do actually look beyond but it just takes more time. Being called hot is not offensive as long as there is an understanding that the said person is multidimensional. Queen was finally an opportunity for me to deconstruct a bit of what people perceive as the ice-queen image. They've become less judgmental, open and respectful. I felt welcomed after Queen.

Do you think the concept of feminism is often misconstrued?
I don't like the word feminist. I don't think women trying to be men is feminism. I also don't believe in being outspoken for the sake of it, or just to prove a point. Feminism is just an over used term and people make too much noise about it for no reason. Women have been given these bodies to produce children, and the spirit and tenderness to take care of people around us. It's fine to be an outspoken and working woman. I don't want to be a man. One day I look forward to making dinner for my husband and children. I don't want to be a career feminist.