Those who have seen her sashaying down the ramp would probably agree that model Jesse Randhawa, with her statuesque height and boyish cropped hair, looks everything but the quintessential Bollywood girl. That could be one reason why director Anurag Kashyap, with his penchant for the offbeat, zeroed in on her for Gulaal. “It was a long time back — right after he made Paanch and the Censor Board did not allow the film to be released. He called me for a script session and I was totally convinced about Anurag’s mettle as a director,” says the Mumbai-based model, as she awaits the film’s release today. Randhawa plays a professor who falls victim to college politics in Rajasthan.

“It’s not a happy character. But Anurag said it was apt for me and I thought it gave me enough scope to prove myself as an actor,” she nods. It’s not Randhawa’s first time in front of the camera — she debuted in Nabhkumar Raju’s flop Chot (2004) and followed it up with a more memorable item number in Kashyap’s No Smoking. “I don’t think dancing around trees, wearing a wig, suits my personality. I’d rather do exciting things — lip-sync to a male voice, get under the skin of a troubled character,” says the woman, whose next appearance isa cameo in Srinivasan Bhashyam’s Love Khichdi.