Recent media reports suggested that Shekhar Kapur had approached Italian actor Monica Bellucci to play the female lead in his next film, Paani. But ask the actor about this and she appears clueless. “I really want to do Indian films, provided I get a good role. I have seen Bandit Queen (1994), but he never approached me to do any film,” she says. The 48-year-old actor says she has high regard for Indian cinema, saying, “Indian films are all about fashion. I have never been to India, but I would make a point to be there very soon.”

A few years ago, Monica was asked by late filmmaker Jagmohan Mundhra to play Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but that hadn’t worked out. “Yes, I was once approached to play Sonia Gandhi in an Indian movie, but I didn’t like the script, so I didn’t go ahead with it,” she says.

Although Italian by birth, Monica hasn’t done too many films in her homeland, choosing to focus on international projects. And despite being brought up in a very conservative society, she’s best known for playing overly sensual roles. “I have a woman inside me that comes from my grandmother, my mother and my country. I am an independent woman, so I do what I want to do and I go where I want to go,” she explains. “But inside me, there is a suffering that comes from women of earlier generations who made me, like my mother and grandmother. And that comes to the fore when I act.”

Speaking further about her roots and the socio-political scenario in Italy, Monica reveals, “I’m from a country where women have to fight for their rights. Years ago, even if a woman was killed by her husband, he would get away with it as it was considered a crime of passion. And if you go to the south of Italy, one’s virginity is still a taboo subject.”