It's real-kickass role:Priyanka

Remember those Mata Hari/Catwoman comic-book heroines? Priyanka Chopra harks back to the comic-book heroine of yore in Goldie Behl's Drona.

It's a F-X spectacle done up in the full-on comic-strip mould with Abhishek Bachchan playing a bespectacled nerd in the US.

"And guess what? I play Abhishek's bodyguard. It's a real-kickass role, and a first of its kind since we've never had the leading lady 'protecting' the hero…unless we remember Hemaji in those hunterwalli movies like Jyoti she looked after the hero. "

No wonder Priyanka is often looked on as the new-millennium Hema.

"Really?" Priyanka laughs. "I'm flattered. My entire look in Drona is very virile and aggressive. "

Priyanka learnt a special strain of the martial arts for her unique-dimensional role in Drona. "I had learnt some kung- fu for Don. But this is different. It's a full-on actioner for me, with kicks and somersaults galore. I quite enjoyed the cuts and bruises. "

She agrees her Drona look and body language is unlike anything she has done before. Quite like what stylist Anaita Shroff did with Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom 2.

"Yeah, we've the same stylist. But my character is more action-oriented. In fact for a change it's the leading lady doing more of the dada-giri than the hero," she laughs.

While she has been staying away from signing new films Priyanka has been doing a lot of ads. "I've been taking the time before my next bunch of assignments making money through ads and live shows. What I do next will have to take me beyond Drona. "