But it’s almost a year after her blockbuster Hindi debut Ghajini (the dubbed Dashavataram, notwithstanding) that Asin will be seen in another Bollywood production, London Dreams, releasing this week. You’d think that would be enough for the pretty actress to be a little nervous and excited. You couldn’t be more wrong. First off, this Southern import is looking forward to the response to the Salman Khan-Ajay Devgn combo, which is happening a good ten years after Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, will get. “That’s a great reason for people to watch the film,” she smiles, completely underplaying her role in the musical story.

Asin plays a South Indian girl Priya, who is based in London. She acts like a traditional Indian girl in front of her parents but when she steps out, she switches over to strappy, short outfits and hot pants and becomes hep. “That’s different from my Ghajini look,” says Asin, who did a lot of shopping with her designer Ashley in Paris where she brought branded wear as well as clothes off the street. “It’s a put-together look,” she informs. In the film, Asin is part of a music band named London Dreams comprising Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Rannvijay Singh and Aditya Roy Kapoor. The story is about their aspirations of making it big. “It has a lot of emotions and the story is well-told,” extols the actress, who has a lot of faith in director Vipul Shah, credited with a string of hits from Aankhen, Waqt-Race Against Time and Namastey London and also produced Singh Is Kinng. “Vipul has a connect with the audience, which is why when he approached me for the film I agreed. Ghajini’s team, except for Aamir Khan, was from the South and I was familiar with them. London Dreams is the first time in which I was working with a hit Bollywood masala filmmaker,” says Asin, who signed the film before Ghajini released.

Had she signed Wanted, a remake of the superhit film Pokkiri, which had her in the original, she would have had another blockbuster to her credit before London Dreams. Did she regret not being a part of it? “I had given bulk dates to Ghajini and couldn’t have accommodated Wanted even if I wanted to,” she says cleverly. She was the first to congratulate her co-star when she got the news about the bumper opening for the Salman film. “I was equally if not more happy because Sridevi and Boney Kapoor (producer) are like family to me now as we are staying in the same building and I have got to know them well,” she grins.

Her first schedule for London Dreams was with Salman in Paris, where she filmed the romantic number Man ko ati bhavey and had the superstar proposing to her in front of the Eiffel Tower. They shot for four nights across Paris including at the Louvre Museum and Sacred Heart. “It was very cold. Salman got to wear warm clothes, a suit and a muffler around his neck, which became his trademark look in the film, but you know that a heroine doesn’t have that privilege,” she laughs. So she’s worn a sleeveless red gown, which did nothing to ward off the chills. Nevertheless, Asin enjoyed filming the catchy number. “It was beautiful to shoot in the night and fun considering the dialect of the song,” she smiles. In the short duration of her stay there, Asin tried to pack in as many tourist places as possible. “It was quite difficult because after shooting the whole night, we would sleep in the morning and before the shoot began, I would visit the famous places,” she lets on. Roaming around the streets of the fashion capital was not difficult for Asin as she has been a French student and could easily converse with the natives. “But what surprised me was young guys aged between 19-21 holding my posters from my South films. Ghajini hadn’t even released,” she says, happily.

Paris over, the next schedule was in London and Asin was shooting with Ajay sans Salman for another song Khanabadosh, which is currently being played out on all channels. It happens to be her favourite number. “It’s a montage shot and gives a fabulous feel of the gypsies,” she enthuses explaining that Khanabadosh means wanderers. “While filming the song, we would invariably say khana do khana do...and had a blast,” says Asin. She also got along well with the two young VJs Rannvijay and Aditya, who are part of the band. “The two of them are closer to my age and we had a lot to chat about,” gushes Asin. As for Salman, she found him extremely chilled-out. “With him, you get what you see but with Ajay it was a revelation,” says the actress as Ajay turned out to be a big prankster.