Bipasha flies in and out of Cannes

Bipasha Basu made it to Cannes, but unfortunately got to spend no time at all at the famed French Riviera town - no shopping, no sightseeing, no swimming and no meeting Jude Law either! The actress visited the prestigious film festival a week ago with boyfriend John Abraham to promote their upcoming venture "Goal", in which she plays a Pakistani doctor.

"It was like not being there! I wasn't at Cannes Film Festival for even a full day. This was my first trip to Cannes and I'd have liked to see and experience more. I landed with John in the morning and was out by evening. All I had time was the press events for our film 'Goal'. That's it," Bipasha told IANS.

"No sightseeing, no shopping. I'm a major shopaholic, though I like to buy stuff for others and not just for myself. And, of course, I'd have liked to swim and relax," she added.

She says the worst blow was that she missed meeting her favourite actor Jude Law.

"John met him at a party hosted by Nike for another football film at the festival. I couldn't attend.

"The ambience is very likeable not just for movie buffs but anyone who wants to shop or simply stroll by the riverside. I got to do none of that. In fact, I was supposed to start shooting for Abbas-Mustan's 'Race' early morning after landing late the previous evening.

"Fortunately for me, they were gracious enough to postpone the morning shift by a few hours. Thank god for such considerate souls. I don't know what I'd have done otherwise," said the busy actress who has had to cancel her holiday to Goa because of her schedules.

"Goa will just have to wait until I've a little breathing space. Right now with so much travelling I don't know whether I'm coming or going. I've another goal to achieve at the moment," she puns.

The actress says she didn't make any preparations for her role in "Goal".

"What preparations did I make to play a Pakistani girl? Nothing! Aren't working women all over the world the same in dress, attitude and gender relations? I kept my makeup to the minimum, just dabbed some kajal in my eyes and picked up my medi-bag to take care of the injured souls on the field."

Bipasha is thrilled with Hollywood icon Richard Gere singling her out for praise on Karan Johar's chat show "Koffee With Karan" and describing her as bright, hot and desirable.

"I'm not just flattered. I'm flattened! If someone as sinfully good-looking and amazingly cute as Gere thinks that way about me, I don't mind missing Jude Law. Strangely, I haven't met Gere that much.

"Though I've made it clear to Parmeshwar Godrej that I'm constantly available for any AIDS-related work on the field, I generally shy away from the charity dinners Gere attends. Such do's are don't for me. I'm not a social butterfly at all," said the actress who has been labelled the hottest bikini babe in Bollywood.

"Have I?" she laughed. "I don't mind being called a bikini babe. I guess I looked right in a bikini in 'Dhoom 2'. I know and so do my fans that I can pull off anything, from a suit-clad 'Corporate' to a bikini in 'Dhoom 2'. Looking hot is a good thing, I guess."

If she had one wish right now what would she like?

"I wish I was one of the footballers in 'Goal' instead of sitting on the bench. And if you give me one more wish, I wish I had met Jude Law at Cannes."

By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service