Nandana Sen is the odd one out and loves it that way, including her role as a Muslim Arab-American girl torn between her roots and events in the post-9/11 world in "The War Within".

Nandana is currently looking at a wide variety of roles and never mind if none of them is an average masala movie.

"I don't think I'm equipped for doing masala," she chuckles wryly.

Earlier this month she flew to Canada to represent Joseph Costello's "The War Within" at the Toronto Film Festival.

"It's the most challenging role of my career. I play a Muslim Arab-American girl torn between her roots and events after 9/11. It's a film and character that oppose religious fanaticism.

"I like that. I like films that take a stand, that dare to cross boundaries. I don't think cinema should be only about entertainment."

Nandana said this was one of the reasons why she liked the work of someone like Ram Gopal Varma. "He's forever going beyond entertainment," Nandana told.

"In fact, my role in 'My Wife's Murder' was hardly that of a conventional heroine. I wish there had been more of me in the film. There was supposed to be..."

In another version of "My Wife's Murder", which was never released, Anil Kapoor's character murders his wife for Nandana's character. Then she murders her lover and they both get away from the cops.

"That's true," Nandana conceded reluctantly. "I was far more central to the other version of the story. But I still loved what remains of me in 'My Wife's Murder'. One of the pleasures of doing the film was working with Boman Irani. He's become an absolute friend. And what an actor!

Boman plays Nandana's father in her new film "It's A Mismatch", a US-based comedy directed by young Ajmal Ahmed. In the film, Nandana plays a Gujarati-American who falls in love with a Punjabi-American.

"The boy's dad is played by Anupam Kher. The only thing in common to Boman's interaction with me in 'My Wife's Murder' and 'It's A Mismatch' is that in both films, he makes me cry," Nandana said.

On another level, Nandana is excited about Willard Carol's "Marigold" where she teams up with Salman Khan. Contrary to expectations, no sparks flew between the controversial Khan and the decorous Sen.

"It's good to draw the lines from the start in all relations, working or otherwise. Much as I admire a lot of people in the industry, I can't suck up to them just because that's the done thing.

"I would rather be jobless than get work for the wrong reasons," said Nandana, gung-ho about her career as a global actor.