No 'item girl' label for Zareen Khan

She is tall and is known for her curvaceous figure in B-Town. Zareen Khan, who was "practically written off after Veer", is currently riding high on the success of her recent hit - Housefull 2.

"It feels great to deliver a hit. After all the criticism I got for Veer, I was scared to even step out of my house. A hit was important," she says. She smiles and adds, "It feels wonderful, now I am being hooted as the hottest heroine of the movie."

With The Dirty Picture bringing the curvaceous Indian women back into the limelight, Zareen says, "I love Kareena but for me, size zero was never in. She looks amazing with more weight on her. Indian women have always been full-bodied and men like voluptuous women. Size zero is a concept of the West and it is only meant for the runway models, not for us."

Zareen, who will be seen next in the sequel to the comic flick Partner (where she has replaced Katrina Kaif), feels that it is safer to do comedy films for her at the moment. She says, "I debuted in a movie where I had a very heavy role. People did not accept me in that character. I relate to the comedy roles that I am doing at the moment. So I have decided to stick to that for the time being. I don't think it will typecast me in the comedy genre."

Zareen's association with Kat goes back to the time when she entered the entertainment industry. For someone who has always been known as Katrina Kaif's lookalike, Zareen is happy that she is gradually losing the tag. Zareen quips, "Even before I entered the industry, it was fed into people's brains that I look like Kat. And Indian audience has very convenient memory; they will only see what is shown to them and will not bother to make their own opinion."

Zareen recently made news for allegedly refusing to do an item song in Zilla Ghaziabad for which she had initially agreed. The reasons cited as the presence of Vivek Oberoi in the film created some controversy and critics talked about her unprofessionalism. Zareen, unhappy with the entire event, clears her stand and says, "It is an unwanted controversy and the entire issue has been blown out of proportion. Manyata is a friend and I am like Sanju's ( Sanjay Dutt) younger sister. I have heard the song and it's fabulous. But I had already spoken to Manyata that if I do another item number at this time, I would be categorized as an item girl. I don't want to be labeled as that. Vivek is not even a part of the song."

Although her entry in the entertainment industry was not much of a problem, Zareen feels she has had to struggle a lot after her debut to be accepted in the industry. For someone who's had a difficult early life, she avers, "I don't have a star boyfriend or father. So I have to work very hard."