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Meeting of the queens

Cate Blanchett. Click for bigger pic!

Lata Khubchandani

The Queen on celluloid had been keen to meet the Bandit Queen on film ever since she stared working with Shekhar Kapur in Elizabeth. She finally got her chance when she came to India last week.

But Seema Biswas was to leave for distant Assam to do a play on August 1 when Shekhar K called her up and asked if she could postpone her visit till after August 6, when he hoped his two leading ladies could meet.

The producer of Biswas's play wasn't very pleased about it, but allowed himself to be convinced by the heroine's lengthy explanation on why she had to meet Cate Blanchett in Bombay.

Seema Biswas. Click for bigger pic!

But when the day of the big party dawned, Biswas found herself worrying whether, after the do, she would be able to get across town to catch her flight at 5.45 am.

Dressed in a black chiffon saree with her hair tied up in the simple manner she prefers, she strolled into the Taj Mahal hotel at 10.30 pm... And found the whole cast and crew of Elizabeth weren't there.

"It took me almost two hours to trace them," she says.

"As I walked about the room I saw everyone in Bombay there -- from film stars to socialites to editors and publishers. But there was no sign of Shekhar... Till I discovered that he and his proteges were in a suite upstairs because they were exhausted with smiling for the photographers..." In the suite were Aamir Khan, Sridevi, Manoj Bajpai, Saurabh Shukla, Cate Blanchett and Suchitra Krishnamurty.

A still from Elizabeth. Click for bigger pic!

The entire cast of Bandit Queen was present there, barring Nirmal Pandey. And all of them stopped their conversation to watch the two women meet.

Shekhar led Seema by the arm and, stopping a yard away from Cate, loudly asked, "Guess who this is?"

Cate wheeled around on her heel, and exclaimed, "I have met you before in 1994 in Delhi. I had come to see you performing a play, Nati Vinodini -- I think it was in Marathi..."

And the normally quiet Seema found her tongue: "No, it was in Hindi." She sized up Cate, clad in a simple velvet maroon midi, and decided she looked elegant and down-to-earth.

A still from Bandit Queen. Click for bigger pic!

Cate continued, exclaiming, "I remember thinking then what a performer you were but later when I saw Bandit Queen I realised you were an outstanding actress! "Seema shyly reciprocated in her halting English, "I loved your Elizabeth too!"

Cate came back with, "Well, it seems like we are both each other's fans and I am glad we were able to meet."

Seema asked Cate how was it working for Shekhar and how she liked Bombay. Cate said she loved Bombay and that it was her second visit here. Working for Shekhar was great too, she assured.

"I liked the experience very much." Earlier in the day, Cate had said the one thing she was looking forward to meeting was Seema who was a tremendous actress.

Click for bigger pic!

And she repeated that later, saying, "You are a wonderful performer. Even when I had seen your play I realised that, but after your role as Phoolan Devi, I felt 'My God, what an actress!' "

Shekhar played the director to the hilt, suggesting a little loudly that Seema ought not to pass up so many acting assignments. Cate watched this interaction with interest.

Seema replied, "If I am asked to play Anil Kapoor's mother, I can hardly be expected to jump at the offer.

"Didn't Nargis play Mother India?"

Click for bigger pic!

"I am willing to play Grandmother India but give me some scope to perform. If I am asked to play Aamir Khan's mother I would be willing, but not just because it is Aamir Khan's mother; there has to be more to the role."

Aamir, sitting nearby, heard his name being mentioned.

"Huh?" he asked. And Seema had to repeat what she had just said. While Cate seemed most interested in whatever Seema had to say, Joseph Fiennes pleaded weariness and wound off to bed.

Unfortunately, the two actresses couldn't be photographed together because they'd quickly ducked away and settled down a dark corner.

And the restless media hounds hung around, wondering if they had been missing something in Seema all this while...

Pictures of Cate Blanchett and Seema Biswas by Jewella C Miranda