“I am a powerful actor,” says sultry siren Kashmira Shah whose last film Holiday did sorry business at the Box Office. In spite of a non-happening career in Bollywood so far, the seductress recently won the first ‘Frownie Award for best close up’ at the Delray Beach Festival for her English film My Bollywood Bride that was produced by her husband Brad Listerman.

“Out of so many international stars from US, France, Russia and Italy, I was the one who bagged the first Frownie Award…It is a humbling feeling. This film also starred Hollywood actor Jason Lewis, Gulshan Grover and Sanjay Suri and was directed by Rajeev Virani,” she said in a barely audible voice.

Kashmira Shah has been around for almost a decade. She was seen in Shahrukh Khan’s Yes Boss as the super-rich, suspicious wife of Aditya Pancholi while Kajol bayed for her blood in Pyaar to hona hi tha as they indulged in a cat-fight over their imbecile boy friend. There was a time after that when she was happy being an item girl with shake-a-bum hits like Javaani Se Ab Jung, Chalka Chalka, Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar etc. “I love doing dance numbers but today all the songs are choreographed in the same way. I would like to do songs that are remembered. Their has to be a context, like a song in a chawl has to have that element, it can’t be shot in Swiss Alps. A bar dancer, for example dances for the money and not for the men, so that body language has to come through. Just look at Saroj Khan how she goes into detailing of all her songs. It was a pleasure working with her for Vaastav,” she says.

The moment one asks her about Revati (where according to her director Farooq Siddiqui shot her topless from angles that she wasn’t even aware of) she recoils in disgust. “It was a bad phase and I am incensed with a tabloid that gave undue publicity to that episode as the film went unnoticed,” she stammers. Her husband let that episode pass and instead produced My Bollywood Bride that has got her at least some recognition in Bollywood although many people don’t even know about as it is still go be released in India.

It was time to ask her about her favorite subject…Jungle…A Ram Gopal Verma film that is still considered as her best film as an actress. “Films like Jungle are rare. It was a powerful role and in the future I would like to be associated with such films rather than being part of nonsense stuff. Even the song Chikna Badan, Tirchi Nazar had so much of attitude…”

So, why didn’t you do anything else after Jungle with a prolific producer-director like Ramu. “I am doing a Telugu film called Ah-amai with Ramu where I play the title role, so there’s the answer.” And what are the other films starring you? “I am doing an untitled Mahesh Manjrekar film. I am also doing a powerful role in a Marathi film besides that I am also doing a few English films produced by my husband that I would talk about at the opportune time.” Don’t you miss your husband? “He is here with me or I am him with him.” Any role models. “Oprah Winfrey and Sudha Chandran for her sheer grit in coming back so strongly even after losing her leg.”