Eating Out

From the moment we enter, the restaurant staff besiege us with expert suggestions onwhat to order. The steward is a tad disappointed when he discovers we’d both stick toveg fare, so we persuade Seema to break the rule. She agrees to have non-veg instead ofbreaking the steward’s heart.

Seema starts her meal with a spicy seafood soup and promptly gives it her wholeheartedapproval. Much encouraged, the steward asks her to try their sizzling chilli chickenstarter. Order through, we get talking. “I’m currently shooting for Ram GopalVerma’s Company,” says Seema. “I find his style of working verycreative and innovative. If my eyes so much as register a minor change in expression he isquick to enquire why.” She is obviously taken in by his perceptiveness.

What of Phoolan’s death which forcibly brought her back into the limelight? Herhouse was crowded with TV cameras and reporters. “Do you think you have a karmic bondwith Phoolan?” I ask. “It would seem so, wouldn’t it? It took me a longtime to put the Bandit Queen image behind me. Not that I succeeded entirely. Now thatshe’s been killed, I’ve been reliving her life all over again. Even earlier whenI was doing the role I was very involved with her experiences. Her violent death onlybrought it all back till I had to tell myself to snap out of it,” she says. Whenpeople speak of Phoolan they seem to see Seema in their mind’s eye. “Even my ownfamily does that. My sister called up my niece to tell her Phoolan had been shot and myniece was shocked till she realised it wasn’t me being referred to. My hairdressertoo mistook me for Phoolan and had a similar reaction,” she says.

Food provides the much-needed respite to this rather grim conversation. Seema shakesoff her mournful mood with a sip of Dragon Twist, a mocktail which is a delectablecombination of mango and strawberry crush. Our meal comprises exotic vegetables in dragonsauce, vegetable munfan rice—a dish with mushrooms and bamboo shoots, and a blandconcoction with noodles as base. Seema goes on to talk about her forthcoming Malayalamfilm, Shantam, directed by Jeyaraj. The film even took her to the Moscow film festival.

Our dessert is a Thai pudding called Sunkya. It looks very delicate and just melts inthe mouth. It also reminds Seema of how she has broken her diet regimen rather blatantly.Our parting gift are fortune cookies, giving us something to laugh about.