/> The intrepid Mallika Sherawat has an unlikely supporter in Sushmita Sen.

"I really think she has a lot of spirit and spunk...and tremendous audacity " says Sushmita. "To have come from where she has and to establish her own identity, and to have that kind of spirit couldn't be easy. But she has done it."

Tell her Mallika speaks of Sushmita as some kind of a role-model, and the actress smiles. "Really ? I haven't met Mallika. But the little that I know of her, I like her."

Mallika seems to subscribe to Sushmita's school of thought.

Laughs Sushmita. "I don't know what Mallika's thoughts are. But I feel every role I've played so far has been a stepping stone towards the goal that I've set for myself. To get to a summit you need to climb step by step.

I think I've been climbing the stairs very steadily. Not for a minute did I believe I had to be Madhuri Dixit just because I came into the film industry as Miss Universe. I knew I had to work hard to get there.

Some people get there more easily than others. But that's life. Maybe I've made some major mistakes in my career. And I continue to make them even today. But that's part of the growing experience."

So what keeps Sushmita going....and growing? "The one thing that nourishes me constantly is my selfidentity. I'm very comfortable with who and what I am.

I am an actress only when the camera is switched on. The minute it 's over I go back to being myself. I don't make an effort to make other people comfortable. I feel I can't be an image for people. I have to be a real person. I have to be absolutely me."

Ask her what 'absolutely me' is, and the prompt reply. "Absolutely me, is tons of contradictions. It's being an enigma even to myself at times. It's someone only I knew, and that too once in a while."