Move over, Shakira

Bipasha takes a month off to learn belly dancing PS: She's also learning to swim and drive

Move over, Shakira

Bipasha takes a month off to learn belly dancing PS: She's also learning to swim and drive

Starting this week, Bipasha Basu is taking a month off to fulfil one of her long-term goals of learning belly dancing. And it's not for a movie.

Says the spunky actress, "A month-long holiday fell into my lap when the Lamhaa schedule got postponed by a month to April 20.
u00a0
I'm now using this time to do what I always wanted to. I'm learning belly dancing! I've wanted to do this for a long time.

I love dancing. I wanted to learn a kind of dance that didn't require too much pressure on my knees, which aren't in the best condition. So salsa and other dance forms were out."

Sirf mere liye

Ask her if it is for a film or for a private performance with John Abraham and she chortles, "Neither.

I'm learning belly dancing for myself. Of course I'd love to do belly dancing on screen too. And I'll incorporate it into my roles for sure."

Earlier this week, Bipasha woke up her business manager in the middle of the night to look for a belly dancing school.

"The impulse just came on me. She located a proper institute which I'm enrolling into."

Belly-dancing is not all that Bips is learning. "I'm also learning swimming and driving. Swimming is something I learnt a bit for Dhoom 2.

For Dhoom, no swimming skills, only the body was required. So I pulled it off.u00a0 But I really don't know swimming and I'm finally learning it. For Goa's sake."

She explains, "Goa is my favourite holiday spot. When I get into the water in Goa, I just float. Now I want to swim in the Goan waters.

Also swimming is a very good exercise and it brings so much grace to your body language."

No more cribbing, John

As for driving, it's more of a challenge that Bips has taken up to prove her boyfriend John wrong. "As we talk, I'm in the fourth day of my driving lessons.

I can drive straight left and right. But I can't reverse yet.u00a0 So now, I can look convincing while driving.

In almost all my films, I'm shown driving but don't actually know how to drive." Learning driving is Bipasha's way of self-empowerment. "I don't want to be dependent on others to drive me around."

Bipasha's boyfriend thinks women make terrible drivers. "All these years, John has been cribbing about women drivers. He feels they can't drive well.

I had warned him he'd have to shut up the day I learnt to drive. No more cribbing about women drivers."