by Subhash K Jha

Sanjay Leela Bhansali remembers her as a timid well-behaved girl who had dropped in to ask for work.

Kangana hopes to work with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. She also hopes to romance Shah Rukh, Aamir and Hrithik on screen.

"I want to do all the conventional things like sing songs and romance my three favourite actors," the 19-year old from Manali is filled with enthusiasm. "But right now both my debut and post-debut films have given me tough serious no-nonsense characters to play."

Kangana has got rave reviews for her performance as the gangster's angst-ridden moll in Anurag Basu's Gangster. It's a role even seasoned troupers would quake to take.

Kangana tackles it headlong. "I don't know where it came from. But I must tell you, the director Anurag Basu held my hand and led me through the amazingly complex life of my character Simran. I could've never done it on my own.

Anurag cried every tear that I've shed in the film. He raged when Simran raged. He screamed in protest against life's injustices every time my character was pushed around. I couldn't have hoped for a better learning experience than this."

And to think Kangana was initially rejected by Mahesh Bhatt! "That's right," she giggles unselfconsciously. "I had auditioned for Zehar. But I never heard from then. Then I bumped into Anurag at the Marriot and he offered me Gangster...

Now I'm doing another film with the Bhatts Woh Lamhe which Mohit Suri is directing. I play Parveen Babi. Believe me this is even tougher than Gangster."

Her problems started early. "When I was told we'd be shooting Gangster in Korea I didn't know what I was getting into. I had no idea of the weather. So I packed my chiffons and georgettes.

Only to realize that it was freezing cold there. I was so cold all the time that I couldn't focus on my emoting at all. God knows how it came out right."

Two real-life tangled and tormented characters (in Gangster Kangana apparently plays Abu Salem's girl Monica Bedi). And Kangana is craving for a change.

"I want to do the usual stuff. I'm a Kathak dancer. I want to sing and dance. I want to show there's more to me than just the troubled characters I've played in my Gangster and Woh Lamhe."

The girl stays all alone in Mumbai away from her parents. Her father is small-scale businessman and her mom a school teacher.

"I do miss them. Mumbai can get awfully cold. But I've some good friends. They're a blessing. I spend my free time dancing and of course watching films featuring my three favourite actors."