When asked if being laidback was actually her overconfidence, the Chokher Bali actress denies saying, "I was too young then. I thought getting noticed in films was good enough. I later learnt that in Bollywood there are camps, one has to do robust PR and also have the patience... everything counts."
Reading this, Bollywood PR guru Dale Bhagwagar posted an interesting anecdote on his Facebook, though he doubts Raima would remember it. Praising her as a fantastic actress and a lovely human being, he recalled the time Raima probably gave the first interview of her life.
Dale was a journalist before he turned PR and was invited to interview the cast of her debut film Godmother; a serious hard-hitting film of the critically-acclaimed movie genre. "The director Vinay Shukla requested all the journalists to go a bit easy on the questions with Raima and not to grill her, as she was not used to PR, or giving interviews. Seated coyly in a corner, she appeared reserved," reminisces the publicist.
Probably this was the first time she was facing questions from the media and all the scribes agreed to be nice to her in their interviews.
"But there was this rookie lady journalist from a vernacular tabloid who insisted she would do Raima's interview first. We said okay. Raima looked shy and unprepared. And the very first question this journalist asked her was: 'Aapki mom apne zamaane mein badi sex bomb thi. Kya aap bhi sex bomb banna chahati hai?' Raima was shocked at this bizarre question. She didn't know where to look," recalls Dale.
"We all were dazed too and the director's jaw dropped, hearing such a brazen first question from the journalist. He was wild at it and stopped the interview there and then. The expression on Raima's face was startlingly numb, and the director realized she was in no mood to continue with the interview session," remembers the journalist turned public relations specialist.
That's also when Dale stepped in and asked Vinay Shukla to give him a chance to pose questions to her. "I assured the director I would be pleasant and dignified with the questions and that may also help put her at ease for other interviews. He reluctantly agreed. Soon, I finished my interview, with Raima now appearing cool and comfortable for more media interactions."
