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Ford
Endeavour 4x4
Having danced her way into filmdom, Koena Mitra’s got big plans
for herself — starting with her new set of wheels.
I’D LOVE TO DO A FULL-FLEDGED ACTION MOVIE WITH LOTS OF CAR CHASES.’
She has been sizzling on the big screen and even bigger hoardings for
some time now. So it’s natural to be a bit awestruck when meeting
Koena Mitra for the first time. Even as I try to organize myself and break
the ice, I realise she’s already broken it. In this instance, help
coming from her love for cars and my working for Autocar! Nevertheless,
we get down to business as her driver parks the car for snapper Asif.
“I love to drive but unfortunately I don’t get much time,”
says Koena hinting at her new-found success and the busy schedules it
has brought along. Living away from her family (back home in Kolkata),
the Ford Endeavour provides a sense of security that Koena naturally yearns
for.
“I bought the Endeavour because it’s big. I love big cars.
. . there’s oodles of space and you get that commanding view of
those around you.”
Interestingly, Koena considered the Honda CR-V too. But she settled for
the Endeavour, bowled over firstly by its tremendous street presence,
and secondly — hold your breath — its fuel efficiency!
“It’s a diesel. That’s good economy.” Maybe in
some time to come when she’s a bigger celebrity she wouldn’t
admit to that with the same innocence.
Koena’s first car was a Mitsubishi Lancer but she never got down
to falling in love with it. “I did deck up the interiors a bit.
. . actually a lot. . . leather upholstery, LCD screen, CD-changer. .
.the works. But they were stolen two days after fitting them — can
you believe it?” She soon sold the car making way for the Endeavour
to enter her life. The past experience didn’t leave her bitter —
you realise that once you get inside the plush Endeavour.
“I’m a gadget freak so I tend to end up using a lot of them
around the house and even in the car. For instance, the LCD screen in
my Endeavour is the biggest one you can find in the market!”
Koena’s accident-prone and the latest one has left her more attached
to the SUV. “There was a big fire in my apartment recently and I
lost everything. . . everything except this car. It was the only thing
left with me actually.”
Little wonder the Bengali beauty has turned more protective about it.
“I’ve always been possessive about my cars. In fact, sometimes,
when any of my friends say that ‘we’ll take your car out or
let me drive it’, my reply is ‘nothing doing’”.
But Koena doesn’t mind getting into other exotic cars herself, which
come aplenty especially while performing stage shows abroad.
“The
organisers always see to it that we get the best of cars,” she admits
while recalling one such outing in Dubai.
“This was during the Musafir Item Bomb contest show,” says
Koena. “We had a huge limo at our disposal, complete with a corner
for a DJ! Really cool.”
Luckily, her current co-star of the forthcoming movie, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena,
Fardeen Khan is an automobile buff himself. Naturally, this movie too
has some sequences involving wheels.
“Too bad I’m not featured in any,” rues Koena. “Seriously,
I’d love to do a full-fledged, action film with lots of car chases.
. .”
She’s got her sights set. Even her next car, as we talk about the
mother of all SUVs — the Hummer. “I’ve seen it here
in Mumbai. It’s BIG. How much do you think it costs?”
Maybe around a crore. . .
“Hmmm...,” she gets lost briefly in her thoughts. Yes, you
can see where her sights are — right up there.
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