I have been unable to make too many friends in Mumbai, says Nargis Fakhri

Actress Nargis Fakhri says she has her own places to stay in every city she travels to, thereby quashing rumours that she is staying in Mumbai at producer and rumoured boyfriend Uday Chopra's bungalow.

In Mumbai for a few days, Fakhri spoke of being away from the city, her new projects, marriage plans and how she doesn't pay attention to rumours. Excerpts:

Where have you been? You have been missing from the hub of Hindi cinema for a good year.

It's closer to two years. Where have I been? Oh, here, there and everywhere. I was mostly in New York. That's where my mom lives, so that's where I am most likely to be. However, currently I am living in Los Angeles.

Hollywood, huh?

Nothing like that. Though I'm not averse to doing films in any part of the world. I did a big Hollywood film, remember?

Oh yes, Paul Feig's Spy (2015), where you kicked some serious ass.

That's right. I'm very comfortable doing action. Not so comfortable doing the 'Bollywood' gyrations and pelvic thrusts.

You have always been a misfit here.

I won't deny that. I have hardly any friends in Mumbai, only two. One of them is Sunaina Bhatnagar who recently directed that very beautiful film Dear Maya. The other is a dress designer. That's it. Otherwise, it's all working relationships in Mumbai. It's strange, because I make friends easily wherever I go. But not in Mumbai. Here it's just work.

Why the lack of friends in Mumbai and not in other parts of the world?

I have never been able to figure it out. I guess my disappointment and caution go back to my first Hindi film Rockstar (2011), where I thought I was making friends for life with the team. When the film got over, they all moved on. That shocked me and left me with mixed feelings about the experience.

You mean the Rockstar experience decided your future relationships in Bollywood?

Yes, kind of. I realized people here are only together to work.

So are you in Mumbai for work?

Yes, a couple of projects are happening. Then I am off again to LA. I am not back in Mumbai until April now. The 'Bollywood' projects that I am doing will be shot outside India.

In Mumbai, there are rumours that you are staying with Uday Chopra and his family?

No, thanks. I have my own place to stay in. In fact, I have a home everywhere that I work... not homes owned by me, just places on rent. You will be stunned when you see my key-ring. It's got a key to open locks in every city that I go to. Luckily, the keys are colour co-ordinated with the locks.

What about the rumours of your Mumbai residence being the late Yash Chopra's bungalow?

I can't even begin to respond to rumours because I don't pay attention to them. I don't read what's written about me. Because when I do, I wonder if that's really me they are writing about.

So when is the nomad-gypsy settling down?

I like that description. Nomad, a gypsy... that's me. I am a butterfly. You can't pin me down. If you put me in a jar, I'll suffocate. I can't be in any one place for too long. When you ask when I am settling down, you sound like my mother. She is the only one who asks me this question.

So let me be the second.

It's not as if I don't want to settle down. But the man has to be as footloose as me. He must love to travel as much as I do.