Jiah Khan: Slumdog or Taare, it's Jai India

The stupendous success of her latest film Ghajini has definitely pepped up this 20-year-old girl, who despite having a sexy siren's image, happens to be a very serious and mature person deep within.

But these days, Jiah Khan has turned into a crusader of sorts. As she takes up the cause of stray animals and fights against their brutal killing, she shares some intimate thoughts with TOI.

Stray cause
Jiah has always had a glitzy and glamorous image. Not that it is surprising though, seeing that Jiah ravished the audience's imagination with her sensuous portrayal in Nishbad. But, now that she's taking up cudgels for the stray animals in Mumbai, there are many out there who will be surprised at this different avatar of hers. Try telling her this and Jiah promptly says, "It's a misconception. Whether you are a star, a teacher or anybody else, everybody has the right to support special causes. I am not making a huge statement about it, just doing whatever I can in my capacity as an individual." And what does she have to say to the faultfinders, who blasely comment that glamorous personalities casually lend their names to serious causes? Not one to cow down in the face of such questions, Jiah says with tremendous poise, "Even that helps in a way because the mediapersons at least bring the serious issues to the fore, due to celebrity presence!"

India calling!
The actress has never dithered over the fact that she admires the creativity of Aamir Khan. Having starred opposite him recently in Ghajini, is she rather disheartened by the fact that Aamir’s Taare Zameen Par has been overshadowed by Slumdog Millionaire? The forthcoming gal admits, "I am little disappointed because Taare... also deals with a serious issue and it has its own appeal. But then, I am truly thrilled over the awesome success of Slumdog...At the end of the day, it's Jai Ho India and what more could we have asked for? Our country’s making waves and that’s great!"

Rivalry or revelry?
While Jiah pertly skirts around the comparisons between Taare... and Slumdog..., what does she have to say about the rumours of rivalry between Asin and her during the making of Ghajini ? Without a moment's hesitation, Jiah says, "Whenever two actresses are working together in a film, the media likes to create stories of a rift between them. Like me, Asin too is an educated girl, who carries herself perfectly. Whenever we met, we were very cordial and sweet to each other." Now that she has put the record straight, which are the other projects that she's doing? "I am doing Housefull with Akshay, Ken Ghosh's untitled film with Shahid and another film, whose details I can't give right now," says the actress.

‘My guy would be like JFK Junior’
Not many know that this diva with raw sex appeal is an avid reader and spends hours "reading literature on Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism." Grill her more on this and she reveals, "I feel reading gives you a well-rounded approach in life. Since I am not a party gal, I just love to cuddle up in the bed with a book. Reading books on philosophy gives me a lot of contentment and widens my inner horizon." Does that mean she's decided to give romance a miss for now? Jiah laughs mysteriously and says, "Ever since I came to India, I haven't had a relationship." So, it means there was a guy in her life before that? She guffaws and answers, "Before that, I was a baby! And past one year was completely dedicated to Ghajini. My focus is on my work and I won't be able to give time to a relationship." It would surely break quite a few male hearts, but her dream guy is "JFK Junior. Rahul Gandhi is quite like him, but JFK Junior is the sexiest man in the world! My dream man would be like him!"

Jiah Khan desperate for Attention

Now we all know that Aamir Khan's ambitious 200-crore movie Ghajini was a huge hit in spite of some critics not liking it at all.

It was Aamir Khan and Asin who walked away with all the accolades. But the dame whose first movie Nishabd flopped badly in spite of it revolving around herself and Amitabh Bachchan is not ready to give up as yet.

She's now working on Yahoo with Shahid Kapur and is trying to get as much as attention as she can from there. Currently she can't stop raving about Shahid who is learning an urban dance krumping for the film. Maybe she thinks that it will give her a whole lot of attention too. She also has Housefull with Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Riteish Deshmukh to talk about. She has other means and ways too. As a member of PETA, she has been campaigning against the use of glass-coated manja used in the strings of traditional kites in India.

She's added, "Glass-coated manja is a public health hazard and causes excruciating death for birds that get tangled up in it. We had asked participants in the Makar Sankranthi contests and all kite-flying competitors to immediately stop using glass-coated manja and to conduct their sport in a way that isn't deadly to humans and wildlife." Now we understand that this is a noble exercise. We just hope the attention hungry chick is not doing it just for publicity.

Jiah Khan Seeks Bikini Permission

After working with Aamir Khan in ‘Ghajini’, Jiah Khan, we hear, is taking her work too seriously.

This sexy siren had to do much to camouflage her 'sexy' image after that 'Nishabd' stint. But with all actresses showing skin these days, it won't take much for Jiah to slip into a two-piece, na ?

"You know surprisingly I come from a strict Muslim family. So I have to ask my mom for permission ten times before I say 'Yes'."

Now, that's a new one. These mommy-girls are something else, we tell you. Are the filmmakers already on the lookout of a certain Jiah ki ma ?