 |
| “I
like fast cars!" |
|
Beautiful,
smart and spirited - and the car’s not bad either. Actress Kitu Gidwani’s
‘junoon’ in life is her ‘josh’ machine, and as she showed
Ritujoy Chakraborty, she’s one girl who likes to put her foot down.
At first I couldn’t believe what I was hearing... “I like fast
cars! When I went car-shopping last year, I was looking for a compact, sporty
yet comfortable car, and the Ikon 1.6 was just perfect. It’s quick,
really quick and very comfortable at the same time. But ideally, I’d
like an even faster car so that I can really put my foot down and blast
off!” says Kitu Gidwani, femme fatale of Indian television and someone
normally associated with words like genteel, soft and gracious, at least
on-screen.
And here she was, hauling me around town on a lovely morning, and telling
me how she would love to go much, much faster.
“I’ve always enjoyed driving fast but I guess you can’t do
that much in Mumbai. I don’t understand, why do people have to drive
so slow? You know, I’m so impatient, I scare myself. With the Ikon,
I can potter around in town without a care in
the world, and when out of the melee, I can really zip. Just give me a highway,
and then there’s no stopping me.”
I ask eagerly, “So you’ve been on the Mumbai-Pune expressway (arguably
the fastest road in India today)?”
A gleam comes into her eyes as she replies, “Actually I haven’t,
but I really want to! Of course, I’ve done some high speeds on the
highways while going to the suburbs. But you know, since I can be very impetuous
with the wheel, I’m not sure I should get onto the expressway...”
Doesn’t fame sometimes mean other road users want to keep up with the
star on the road? “Yeah, that happens a lot. It can be quite dangerous
at times, because the person who’s trying to keep up with me doesn’t
have his or her eyes on the road. I can also get distracted. That’s
why I’m planning to put film on my windows, though I’m not sure
whether it’s legal.”
We’re heading back to Kitu’s garage and there’s just enough
time for me to ask her my two pet questions - dream car and funniest car-incident.
“Well the funniest thing about me and my car is that whoever gets in,
exclaims, ‘My God Kitu, you still haven’t taken off the plastic!?’
What can I do? I love my baby too much.” Tiger, you mean. “As
for a dream car, frankly, I don’t have one particular dream car, maybe
apart from sinful things like a Porsche Carrera 911, which I definitely
can’t afford, at least not now. All I want is a good-lookin’,
fast, yet comfortable coupe, preferably German. Maybe even a Toyota would
not be bad.”
And I was just beginning to suspect that there was a Italian ancestor somewhere... |
July 2001