Remember Gracy Singh? Who can forget the graceful and pretty Radha prancing around her man, Bhuvan, in Lagaan?

Or, the prim and proper lady doctor won over by the no-holds-barred and irrepressible Munnabhai in Munnabhai MBBS?

She was equally at ease with her retrained performance in Prakash Mehra's Gangajal or pitted against superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Preity Zinta in Armaan. She has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons.

Reason number one – she slapped the assistant director on the sets of the under-production film Desh Drohi because he insisted on smoking on the sets ceaselessly though, allergic to tobacco smoke, she had asked him not to.

Reason number two – she flew back from a Dubai shoot of the same film without having informed her director.

"I do not know who is at the bottom of these rumours. Why would I do it? What right do I have to slap someone who refuses to listen to me on the sets? Can I afford to behave this way in the cutthroat ambience we work in?

The profession and the industry do not offer space for unprofessional and rude behaviour. I did not fly back from Dubai in the middle of a shoot.

These incidents are the figments of someone's rich imagination. I want to make it clear once and for all that these incidents just did not happen. Period," says Gracy veiling her anger with her charming smile.

Gracy has just finished two films, Aseema, in which she portrays the title role, and Desh Drohi, where she is playing the female lead.

Aseema is based on a novel penned by Orissa author Shailaja Kumari Aparajita Mohanty and is directed by Shishir Mishra, a senior director from Orissa.

"My character grows from a sprightly teenager to a middle-aged woman, a large span. It is a dream role that offered me scope to innovate and create. It is a character the women in the audience will find easy identification with.

She is a young girl born and brought up in the lap of luxury in a zamindar's family. But after she gets married, she slowly transforms herself when she discovers that she must have an identity of her own.

I enjoyed doing the film," informs Gracy. Aseema is ready for release in April or May.

Desh Drohi on the other hand, is an action film directed by Jagdeesh, which is also complete.

Born into a Punjabi family where her father is top executive in a corporate firm and mother is a schoolteacher, with one younger sister and a kid brother, Gracy dreamt of becoming a dancer and an actress.

Initially, convincing her parents was an uphill climb "but once they saw me on television in Amaanat, they were bowled over." She now lives alone in her pad in Mumbai and has learnt to cope with her independence.

"Looking back, cutting away from Amaanat was painful because I had got emotionally attached to the serial and to my character. I did 150 episodes spread over two years and Rinki, the character I portrayed, made a great influence on me as a person.

It was also a growing up process for me," she reminisces. She clarifies that every role she had initially bagged needed a screen test.

"I do not know how the idea spread that someone spotted me in Amaanat and picked me for Radha's role in Lagaan. I went through separate screen tests for the serial and for the film. It was tough," she elaborates.

Asked to comment on her work with the top actors of Bollywood, Gracy says, "Every single experience was amazing.

Whether it was Aamir for Lagaan or Sanjay in Munnabhai MBBS or Anil Kapoor in Armaan, they are wonderful professional colleagues to work with. I would love to specially mention Asutosh Gowarikar.

He is extremely talented and so completely involved that he works on his script for many years before he decides to do other things for the film."

"Mr. Bachchan took away my nervousness by putting me on an easy comfort zone.

He is entertaining, professional and so punctual that he would embarrass everyone else by arriving on the sets at least 15 minutes before time.

Anil is a perfectionist who puts in a lot of preparation while Sanjay is so spontaneous that once he is in front of the camera, there is no second take for his shot."

What kind of actress is Gracy Singh? "I am completely a director's actress. At the same time, let me add that I like to be spontaneous and do not like to prepare.

Television does not give you time to rehearse, so one gets used to spontaneity. Sometimes, I feel the urge to make suggestions but mainly, I stick to what the director says," she says.

Gracy has done a lot of regional films too. "Yes, I have. I did Meghaway Meghaway in Kannada directed by Mr. Prasad. I am also into Punjabi films.

I have done Chudiyan and my Lakh Pardesi Hoiye directed by Swaran Singh is ready for release next month. I play a modern Punjabi girl who is Indian at heart. I would love to do a film in every regional language.

My dream role would be a dancing role like the ones Vyjayantimala did in many films. It would give me scope to present my dancing on screen."

Considering that she has always worked with big heroes under big banners, her career has not really taken off the way it ought to have. Why?

"I am so happy that you have asked me this. It means that there are expectations from me as an actress. The gaps in my career between films just happened. I took a short break and that must have led to this problem. It was not as if I was waiting for the right role."

What does she look for while accepting an assignment? "The story is the most important thing for me, not my role. My profession as an actress itself is a social cause because my work is to entertain the masses."