by Subhash K Jha

Priyanka is in a relaxed mood. She has what she calls a "spontaneous holiday" from the shooting of Krissh.

Though she's being offer plum assignments, Priyanka has chosen to play what she describes as a relatively small role in Bluff Master.

"See, Abhishek plays the title role. I knew exactly what I had to do. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I'm only doing the films I know I'll be proud of. And Bluff Master is certainly one such film. Being a female actor it's unlikely for me to play the title role in Bluff Master or Don. But I was the only girl on the sets. I play Abhishek's love interest. But Abhishek and Riteish make a pair. They're fantastic. Their chemistry together is unbelievable."

As for Priyanka, "Abhishek is a fantastic actor. He knows exactly what to do and how the film will turn out. When he was acting I realized how intelligent he is as an actor."

She's also doing a film with Hrithik. "Abhishek and Hrithik are very different but very very good actors. But Duggu (Hrithik) is also a spontaneous actor. Both of them are very focused on their roles."

She chuckles at the memory of the pranks shared with Abhishek. "One day we decided we'll take Rohan's trip. We decided to pull a prank regarding Nana Patekar whom we were all scared of."

"I used to arrive half an hour before him and wait for him. No pranks when he was around. But one day Abhishek and I decided to make up this story and complain that Nana had misbehaved with me. I went hysterically hammy. Rohan was ready to speak to Nana when we all burst out laughing...Nana has such an aura of being private and inaccessible. But he's a warm soul. He used to bring food for all of us."

As for her director Priyanka speaks from the heart. "He made it with his heart. I came out of Bluff Master with great memories, great friends...All my friends are from the films I work in. Otherwise," she groans dramatically. "I've no one to go out with. Come on, hook me up with someone."

Her parting shot.... "Of all the films I've done so far, this one has been the most fun to make. Bluff Master is one of a kind. While everything was completely organized, all of us—Rohan, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek and I—were completely mad on the sets. This wasn't an easy film to make. This kind of a film hasn't been made in Hindi before."

It's been tough year for Priyanka. "My father fell ill. Now he's in American recovering. He's out of the hospital . But he has to get himself checked once a week. The doctors say he'll be ready to return in January. He's been in hospital for six months. It's been a traumatic time. I think I've matured quite a lot. Professionally it was quite a tumultuous year. Waqt did really well ...Barsaat too did well..."

"Now I hope to pull a hat trick with Bluff Master. God's been very kind to my career. Good things happened after Aitraaz...Now I've Rakesh Roshan's Krissh and Rumi Jaffrey's God Tussi Great Ho which are complete, Farhan Akhtar's Don which I start shooting on January, Dharmesh Darshan's Aap Ki Khatir and Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq where I pair with Akshaye Khanna for the first time...All these films will be over by July 2006."

Is Priyanka happy inching towards the top slot? "It's such a slippery place to be in, dude. Mr Bachchan, Shah Rukh, Madhuri, Kajol, Ash...they've been there for years. But look at them. They're incredible actors. I'm happy being recognized as versatile. I just want let things flow. I've been here for a very short span of time."