After Lara and Kelly's breakup, she chose friend Dino for emotional support. They reportedly fell in love; have been out on the social circuit and are even travelling the world together. In between there were talks too that they had fallen apart but nothing is clear. The word is that they would rather want people to pay attention to their respective careers and not their relationship.

Lara Dutta who has become the daughter of the soil all for SRK’s Billu Barber which is slated to release this month. She plays a small-town chori in the flick. “I have walked barefoot for 15 days to get into my character. I have drawn water from wells and for the first time I cooked on a choolha. I have also fed goats and cows...” Wow! But then any chori is willing to do anything for Shah Rukh.

Time is apt to catch up with Lara on the eve of her next release we started with a retro mood and she bowled us over instantly.

And we just couldn’t stop laughing. Wondering what we are talking about. When we asked actor Lara Dutta about her career in 2008, she said, “A super busy year but no one will believe. Unfortunately there is nothing to show.” But then this year will be different.

Lara has a huge line of impressive movies coming up in 2009 — Billu Barber, Banda yeh bindaas hai, Blue and Do not Disturb. Inspite of having a full-fledged role in SRK’s production Billu Barber, she is hardly seen in the promos. “I don’t interfere in the marketing strategy of a film. In a male dominated tinsel world, where the female actors are only adding glamour or glorifying the hero’s existence in the film, you have to be happy that you added value to an interesting product like Billu Barber.”

Her friendship with actor Dino Morea has generated much interest but she still continues to maintain a dignified silence. Lara maintains that she shares a wonderful friendship with Dino because they have known each other since they were in school. “We have known each other since I was five years old. So just because people want me to proclaim my friendship with him and shout from the rooftop, I am not going to do it. There is certainly no wedding happening here. You need to find a partner who supports you emotionally. I am yet to come across a person like that.”

Next, you ask her about the ‘camps’ in Bollywood and why isn’t she a part of any camp? “There are no permanent friendships or enemies in Bollywood. The stakes are too high here to have a friend because the next minute he would be backslapping you. Stardom gets you a table in a five-star hotel but it can really drive you insane. So I prefer to have the same set of people in my life than change them. I am not a very pushy person so I am not visible.”

Now Lara has discovered a new passion for scriptwriting. She has penned some three scripts for films and emphasises that they are not “woman-oriented subjects. If I pen women oriented subjects, none of the hot selling men in the industry will work for me.” She also tells us about her adventures in the Bahamas whilst shooting for Blue with Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar. “I became a certified diver and swam with the sharks, dolphins, wild turtles and dolphins. Initially I was really scared of diving in, but then I realised that it is a myth that all sharks attack humans as soon as they see them. It was awe-inspiring.”

Lara shakes her head when we ask her if she would want to be a part of international projects. “A 3-4 minute scene in the film does not really excite me. It would be interesting to work in a European film instead. There are few actors like Hale Berry or Penelope Cruz who get to do interesting roles.”