Leisure time activities of Sushmita Sen

BollywoodWorld.com, The Bollywood queens’ razzle dazzle are really synonymous with their pan caked greasepaint, their vanity cases, their ultra chic designer wears in tandem with its accessorized trinkets and tiaras. Seems like an all out effort on their parts to display their histrionics, if any. Yet the million-dollar query is – What do they do in their leisure time? What activities keep them on their toes at such times? How do they spend their typical leisure day acquired once in a blue moon? What are the interests that they pursue sometimes with great earnest during such phases? How do they unwind, de-stress or relax themselves whenever they can? Which are their favorite hangout places and how do they freak out on their free weekends? What is their traveling itinerary and do they pamper themselves by spending a lot of dough globetrotting? Shaheen Raaj caught up with Sushmita Sen to get a lowdown on her leisure activities and this is what she revealed. A media’s delight she fielded all the queries with great aplomb.

Describe a typical day of leisure in your over busy schedule of a hectic life as an actress?

Now wait a minute. A typical leisure day for me is, let me think, yeah the time I spend with my daughters {adopted} at the poolside close to our house. And the moment we get some free time we just escape and find ourselves there swimming away to glory until we feel like dropping dead with exhaustion. More than me it’s Rene who loves swimming. After the swim, off we go to tuck ourselves in with the Coffee bar brunches. Then it’s time for a long, long drive culminating in a games parlor where she gets so busy that she even overlooks my presence. So I just sit there, sipping a Cola watching her playing and fooling around with kids of her own age group.

What is your idea of unwinding, de-stressing and relaxing?

I just love chatting on the Net and staying glued to my Cell phone that I think is the most unwinding process regularly undertaken by me. Then for de-stressing we have this punching bag at home, so we both punch each other till one of us drops dead out of sheer fatigue. If that’s not all our next round involves the process of donning our gloves and then practicing a few rounds of boxing targeting each other. As for relaxation, watching my daughter sleeping peacefully is the best form of relaxation that I can ever enjoy.

Do you have any specific or favorite place to hang out with your friends in your leisure time?

In this regard I would say that my daughters are my best friends and our home and the famous neighborhood poolside is our favorite hangout But of course occasionally when Rene is busy at school I do make it a point to go out with a few of my own best friends. One of them is Meghana Gulzar. We do go out for lunch or dinner but again there is no specific choice here too. It all depends on various factors coupled with our moods at that particular moment of time.

Are there any particular interests that you pursue in your leisure time?

One would be surprised to know that I have these strong directorial inclinations since I had worked with Meghana Gulzar for her film ‘Filhaal’ In fact during its making I used to find myself peeping more through the camera than emoting in front of it. So one can say that this is one interest that I pursue with great earnest. My concrete steps for this are to start reading books on film making penned by international authors and filmmakers. Since Rene had come into my life, a couple of years ago, I have been filming all her personal and beautiful in fact all her first time moments, to be not only preserved for posterity’s sake but also to be gifted to her on her eighteenth birthday. The groundwork has been laid so watch out for my directorial debut in the nearest future.

Do you like spending a lot of money on yourself and then feel guilty thinking of the huge amount spent on pampering yourself?

First of all I never pamper myself. But of course I always pamper my daughters with everything. And then it’s even quite silly to think that I would feel guilty about it. No way. They are the apples of my eye, no matter how much I pamper them but I am myself never satisfied. And then to be honest, I do end up spending a lot of money while traveling abroad by dining out, blowing it up on duty free shopping arcades of the International airports. Besides I just love to shower all my friends with gifts. During festival times I just go bonkers by crossing all my limits to the point of bankruptcy. And once again I would like to clearly state that I don’t feel guilty at all.

What do you like doing best during your leisure time and why? Does it mean just kicking off your shoes and relaxing or doing something more adventurous?

Where is the time for being adventurous? So I just believe in kicking off my shoes, putting up my feet once in a while and just relaxing by catching up on my reading habits. But this entire freak out business occurs only if Rene is busy with her academics or with her coterie of friends. Or else I have already divulged what we do in our spare time.

What are the craziest things that you have ever done in your spare time?

Nothing that I can remember off hand. But of course Rene and me do indulge in some of the wildest and the craziest things that anyone can ever imagine. But sorry, I would not like to share our secret doings with anyone, no, not even with the greatest of my fans.

On a signing off note – tell us what is more exciting for you, spending your time traveling abroad or traveling within India?

As it is we travel a lot. Yes I always plan my schedule in such a way that I can really make it a point to take my daughters along with me on all my outdoor shoots and shows abroad, at my own expense of course. Hence traveling within India, drifting off to new and unexplored places really gives us the greatest high.