‘Here to push boundaries,’ says actress Lisa Haydon as she talks about her latest film

Mumbai: Last seen as Vijay Laxmi, the bohemian French waitress in Kangana Ranaut’s Queen, Lisa Haydon is excited about her upcoming project The Shaukeens, an adaptation of Basu Chatterjee’s 1982 hit.

Three old men, played by veterans Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra, will be seen lusting after her. “I am excited to be a part of the film and it was an enriching experience to share screen space with such veterans,” she says.

Model-turned-actress Lisa is selective about the kind of roles she chooses. “I do not want to sign projects in which the depth and essence of my character takes second place and the focus is instead on my looks. I want to do roles that allow me to push my boundaries and provoke us to think differently,” she adds.

Talking about Akshay Kumar, she says, “I have a lot of respect for him and have seen and admired his roles in a lot of his films. He is crazy about his work and I find that inspirational. It was a great experience working with him. I play a crazy fan of his in the film.”

To stay true to her character, Lisa made a conscious effort not to watch the original Shaukeen. “It was a deliberate choice to not watch the original film as I wanted to be as pure as possible to my character and not get affected by the earlier film. It is an adaptation and not a full-fledged copy of the original film. The premise of the film is same but the characterisation is very different and has been given a contemporary twist to suit modern times,” she adds.

When asked about who was the most shaukeen actor among Annu Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Piyush Mishra, Lisa says, “Annu Kapoor is the most shaukeen; Piyush ji is innocent and Anupam ji is cool. Annu ji’s facial expressions are so adorable... that mischievous look makes him look cute.”