Barbara Mori Finds Her "Soul Buddy" In India

Mexican beauty Barbara Mori, who will be making her debut in the Hindi film industry, or Bollywood, with the movie "Kites" next month, has found a "soul buddy" in Anurag Basu, the director of themovie. That's because both have fought and survived individual battles with cancer.

View Photos [38]
View Profile

Born Barbara Mori Ochoa, in Montevideo, Uruguay, Barbara is a Mexican actor who will star opposite Hindi film star Hrithik Roshan in "Kites." Basu and Mori came to know of each other's ordeal while shooting for the film and once they began talking on the issue, they found out that they both had conquered the same illness with sheer determination and the will to live.

Speaking of her Bollywood debut, Barbara told IANS, "I knew nothing about Bollywood when 'Kites' came to me. Rakesh Roshan (producer) and Anurag Basu narrated the script to me and the only thing I felt was that this was such a different film."

Barbara watched a lot of Hindi movies, especially the song and dance routines to get familiar with the industry. When she realized that Bollywood movies had a lot more singing and dancing than the Mexican movies, where Barbara was already working, she found it to be very funny.

However, after spending a lot of time in India, where she is currently on her third visit, the 32-year-old actor is now hooked on Hindi films and would like to act in a couple more such movies.

One aspect of Bollywood movies that amazed Barbara is the taboo over kissing scenes. That was one thing she didn't understand because back home in Mexico, she was used to nudity, at least partial if not full, in films. However, in India, which is not as open a society, filmmakers cannot go beyond a certain limit of physical exposure or physical intimacy because of certain cultural taboos.

Despite all the setbacks, funny as well as amazing, Barbara is now enjoying her tryst with Bollywood. She considers Hrithik to be a "superb co-star" and she taught him some Spanish words and learned a few Hindi words from him.

For now, Barbara is set to go back home to Mexico later this week but she will be back when her movie "Kites" releases in India on May 21.