Neha Dhupia has had a bit of rough passage in her upcoming film Shootout At Lokhandwala. Dhupia is yet optimistic and fine. Read on for her chat with TWF's correspondent Vickey Lalwani.

Your next film Shootout at Lokhandwala is a multi-starrer with biggies?
I loved doing Shootout... Before this, I never had the opportunity to work with Mr Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt. I am a great fan of both.

The first time I met Mr Bachchan on the sets, I asked him to pose for a photograph with me.

And I apologised to Sanjay after my first shot with him because I had to be upset with him in that scene; I play his wife Mrs Khan. I couldn't control my emotions with them.

You were surrounded by many good-looking men in this film- Mr Bachchan, Sanjay, Suniel, Vivek, Abhishek, Arbaaz, Tusshar, Shabbir, Rohit...
(Interrupts) Oh come on, I have never ogled at my co-actors.

How does it feel to do a film where the attention is on the men and not you?
The focus was never promised. I knew what I was getting into. I knew it was a film with 14 actors and 11 were men. I knew that the director was someone who specialises in action films. At the end of the day, I am happy that I did this film.

I got to work with Apoorva Lakhia who is such an intelligent and organised guy. No actor in the film has been shortchanged. No actor was kept waiting needlessly even if he was shooting with the entire cast on a given day. I would give my arm and leg to work with Lakhia again.

But things went sour for you after you completed the film. Sanjay Gupta (producer) got miffed with you because you didn't attend the music launch?
Yes, Gupta is upset with me. But I had informed him about my non-availability in time, since I was committed to attend an international event in Zurich. There was a communication problem at the mediators' level. I informed his people who did not take the message across.

I take complete pride in being a thorough professional and I stand by it. I have nothing against Gupta and White Feather Films, but at the same time, I am not guilty about being unprofessional.

You have been shortchanged in the publicity campaign. Agree?
Yes, I agree. May be it's their modus operandi. But it's okay. I remain Sanjay's wife in the film even if I am not publicised.

Are you happy with the other films in your kitty?
I have Ek Chalis Ki Local (with Abhay Deol), Mithia (with Nasseruddin Shah, Ranvir Shourey), Gupta's Dus Kahaniyan (which Neha completed before her imbroglio with Gupta), Kuch Love Kuch Drama (Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav) and Saurav Shukla's new film titled I am 24 (Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shourey).

Yes, I am happy. I am not taking help from anybody. I am not answerable to anybody. I go home without any baggage and sleep well.

How is your relationship with Ritwik Bhattacharya (squash player) going?
Ritwik is a great guy. I know him from my school days. His girlfriend in school was my good friend. He used to play squash with my dad. He understands me the best. Ritwik is very important and precious to me, but we hardly get to see each other since he doesn't belong to Mumbai.

Aren't you dating him?
We are not fully dating. We are very good friends (smiles). Next question, please.

We heard, your relationship with him was a bit on-off thing sometime back?
Well, we have had good times and bad times together, both.

Do you go to see and cheer him when he has a match?
If he is playing in Mumbai, I definitely try to attend. But I haven't flown to foreign lands to cheer him up.

You have lost lots of weight. Iska raaz kya hai?
Iska raaz yeh hai that I have started doing yoga regularly and become serious about my workouts. There was a long time in betweem when I was not regular with my exercise regimen.

I work out on an empty stomach, with Deane Pandey (who also trains Preity Zinta and Lara Dutta) at Joggers Park and the beach. And yes, I stay away from chocolates, pastries and aerated drinks.

I don't take any carbohydrates after sunset. The two vices which increase weight are not my wish list anyway; I don't smoke and I don't drink. I wish I could still lose some more kilos.