"Salman knelt and proposed to me" - Asin
She's basking in well-deserved success after Ghajini. In between shooting a song for London Dreams and doing commercials, Asin, looking fresh as a daisy in casual tee and trousers, opens up in an exclusive chat
How
is
life
post-Ghajini?
You
are
flooded
with
endorsements
now.
Life
is
pretty
much
the
same.
As
for
endorsements,
I
have
been
doing
ads
since
the
age
of
14.
So
far,
I
have
done
around
50
ads
including
Parachute,
BPL
Mobile,
Mirinda
and
Colgate.
Most
of
the
commercials
you
are
seeing
now
have
been
signed
much
before
Ghajini
happened.
But
didn't
you
sign
Tata
Sky
after
Ghajini
and
after
Aamir
Khan
became
its
brand
ambassador?
Not
at
all.
My
ads
are
already
on
in
the
South
and
they
are
planning
to
shoot
another
with
Aamir
soon.
Now
that
you
have
tasted
success
with
both
the
Ghajini's,
which
is
more
special?
Both.
I
was
excited
when
the
Tamil
film
came
about.
I
had
done
a
few
films
till
then
but
Ghajini
was
a
huge
success.
It
was
the
highest-watched
regional
film
in
that
year
(2005).
A
huge
box-office
success,
it
even
caught
Bollywood's
attention.
As
for
the
Hindi
version,
when
I
was
shooting
for
it,
it
was
like
watching
a
re-run
of
your
film
but
I
was
equally
enthused
working
in
it.
I
have
been
told
the
film
is
the
highest
grosser
ever
in
Hindi.
Screen
gave
me
the
Most
Promising
Newcomer
award
and
I
got
my
first
national
recognition.
Do
you
get
mobbed
in
Mumbai?
I
think
people
in
Mumbai
are
really
cool.
When
they
see
me,
they
wave
out
or
greet
me
with
a
Hi
or
a
Hello.
It
feels
nice.
But
when
I
was
shooting
for
London
Dreams
in
Chandigarh,
I
got
a
taste
of
North
India.
I
had
never
been
there
before
and
though
I
stayed
there
only
for
a
day
I
enjoyed
it.
The
crowd
was
encouraging
and
kept
calling
out
my
name.
If
I
didn't
respond
to
Asin,
they
would
resort
to
Kalpana
(her
name
in
Ghajini).
I
loved
the
food
there,
specially
the
aloo
parathas.
Are
you
not
afraid
of
putting
on
weight?
Not
at
all.
I
believe
in
eating
healthy
food.
My
mother
is
a
doctor
and
she
has
always
encouraged
me
to
eat
right
and
live
a
healthy
life.
Whenever
I
get
time,
I
work-out
and
do
cardio
exercises.
I
am
not
interested
in
being
a
size
zero.
What
difference
do
you
find
between
the
Mumbai
and
the
South
film
industries?
The
South
industry
has
a
lot
more
sense
of
punctuality.
They
start
early
and
wrap
up
by
a
particular
time.
I
am
used
to
that
and
make
it
a
point
to
be
on
time
for
a
shoot
or
an
event.
People
tell
me
I
shouldn't
be
on
time
and
that
it's
an
'in'
thing
to
be
fashionably
late.
In
Ghajini,
the
entire
unit
was
from
the
South,
so
in
that
sense
there
was
no
difference.
London
Dreams
is
the
first
complete
Bollywood
unit
I
am
working
with.
Most
of
the
film
has
been
shot
in
London
and
Paris
and
it
was
a
good
experience.
Each
of
us
got
a
bound
script,
besides
the
shoot
schedule
including
the
sunrise,
sunset,
weather
forecast,
temperature,
site
-map
of
the
location,
reporting
time
etc.
For
the
first
time,
I
was
introduced
to
the
concept
of
ADs
(assistant
directors)
with
walkie-talkies
on
the
sets
of
Ghajini.
It
was
odd
to
hear
them
telling
each
other
'loading
Kalpana
on
the
set',
'walking
Kalpana'
etc.'
I
used
to
tell
them
I
am
not
a
thing
to
be
adressed
like
that!
How
did
London
Dreams
come
about?
It
was
when
I
was
shooting
for
Ghajini
that
I
got
a
call
from
Vipul
Shah.
I
got
a
script
narration,
liked
my
role
and
agreed
to
be
a
part
of
it.
It
is
a
relationship-based
musical
film.
I
am
looking
forward
to
it.
What
is
your
role
like?
I
play
Priya,
a
London-based
girl
of
Indian
origin.
She
is
part
of
a
music
band,
which
has
Salman
Khan
and
Ajay
Devgan
as
the
lead
singers.
We've
heard
that
you
sport
two
distinct
looks
in
the
film.
Yes,
Priya
acts
like
a
paawan
(innocent)
traditional
South
Indian
girl
at
home
in
front
of
her
parents
wearing
only
chudidars
and
salwars.
But
when
she
steps
out,
she
switches
over
to
strappy,
short
outfits
and
hot
pants,
the
kind
a
London
girl
wears.
Unlike
Kalpana
of
Ghajini
who
wore
clothes
picked
up
from
the
streets
in
Bandra,
since
she
was
shown
to
be
a
lower
middle-class
girl,
Priya's
outfits
have
been
brought
in
London.
There
were
reports
that
you
weren't
happy
with
the
outfits
given
by
your
designer
in
London
Dreams.
There's
not
an
iota
of
truth
in
that
report.
Ashley
Rebello
is
the
designer
and
I
had
no
problems
with
him.
In
fact,
I
have
never
stated
my
preferences
for
any
of
my
movies.
The
director
decides
the
kind
of
look
he
wants
and
conveys
it
to
the
designer.
If
the
director
is
not
satisfied
how
can
I
be
blamed?
Between
Kalpana
and
Priya,
who
is
closer
to
you?
Oh!
That's
difficult
to
say.
But
I
think
I
identify
with
Priya
more.
I
had
fun
shooting
for
the
film
as
the
two
newcomers
Ranvijay
and
Aditya
are
closer
to
my
age.
We
are
all
part
of
a
music
band
in
the
film
but
we
became
good
friends
in
real
life
too.
Ranvijay
is
cool
and
Aditya
is
sweet.
What
about
your
heroes,
Salman
Khan
and
Ajay
Devgan?
Salman
is
chilled-out.
I
like
his
attitude.
With
him
what
you
see
is
what
you
get.
Ajay
Devgan
was
a
revelation.
I
thought
he
was
this
serious,
reserved
type
of
guy
but
he
turned
out
to
be
quite
a
prankster.
He's
witty
and
is
a
complete
entertainment
on
the
sets.
He
used
to
come
up
with
this
tongue-twisters
in
Hindi
like
oont
ki
peeth
oonchi,
oonchi
poonch
oont
ki.
And
I
would
retort
with
some
of
the
old
Hindi
one-line
tongue-twisters
that
I
know.
So,
did
he
play
any
pranks
on
you?
Yes,
he
tried,
but
it
fell
flat
on
his
face.
(Laughs)
During
a
shoot
in
London,
when
I
was
sitting
in
my
caravan,
two
guys
who
were
around
7
feet
tall
and
of
African
origin
started
yelling
at
me.
They
asked
me
to
come
out
of
the
caravan
and
started
banging
on
it.
Something
told
me
this
couldn't
be
happening.
After
they
were
through
I
calmly
asked
them
to
get
out.
Then,
I
saw
Vipul
(Shah)
and
Ajay
standing
with
a
camera
filming
the
entire
scene!
Vipul
was
disappointed
that
I
hadn't
given
a
single
reaction.
Tell
us
about
the
scene
where
Salman
proposes
to
you.
That
picture
of
Salman
kneeling
and
proposing
in
front
of
the
Eiffel
Tower
was
splashed
everywhere.
We
were
shooting
a
song
in
Paris
near
the
De
Luvre
Museum.
A
wacky
song,
which
goes
Man
ko
adhik
bhave
saiyyas,
dil
taa
taa
thaiyaa,
haaye
re
has
Salman
wooing
me
and
at
the
end
of
the
song
he
proposes
to
me.
It
was
freezing
in
the
nights
with
chilly
winds.
But
the
song
is
so
funny,
it
was
great
shooting
for
it.
Ghajini's
producer
Madhu
Mantena
has
said
that
he
has
cancelled
the
three-film
contract
with
you
because
of
your
attitude?
Let
me
clarify
that
I
never
sign
any
contract
deals
with
producers.
So,
there's
no
question
of
him
cancelling
it.
In
fact,
the
day
the
report
came
in
the
paper,
he
called
me
to
tell
me
not
to
believe
whatever
has
been
written.
I
must
say
that
compared
to
the
media
in
the
South,
the
press
here
cooks
up
stories
without
any
clarifications.
I
have
decided
not
to
react
to
these
reports.
You
refused
a
Priyadarshan
film
co-starring
Akshay
Kumar.
In
fact,
you
haven't
signed
any
Hindi
films
apart
from
London
Dreams.
(Cuts
in)
I
would
love
to
work
with
Priyan,
I
have
grown
up
on
his
films
in
Malayalam.
And
he
has
offered
me
films
in
the
past
too.
I
have
refused
them
for
different
reasons.
For
me,
the
most
important
things
are
the
script,
my
character,
the
director,
the
producer
and
co-artiste,
in
that
order.
I
try
for
the
best
combination
and
I
am
lucky
to
have
worked
with
the
cream
of
the
cream.
I
can
afford
to
wait.
I
don't
want
to
be
repetitious
in
my
roles.
It's
being
said
that
you
are
charging
a
high
price
of
around
a
crore
and
a
half.
Money
is
not
a
criteria.
I
don't
have
any
financial
pressures.
I
want
to
enjoy
what
I
am
doing.
Like
Bharatbala's
19
Steps?
Yes.
It
is
a
Walt
Disney
production
to
be
made
in
Tamil
and
Japanese.
It
is
about
a
Samurai
warrior
who
comes
to
Kerala
to
learn
Kalaripayattu,
the
mother
of
all
martial
arts.
The
film
stars
Tadanov
Asano,
a
Hollywood
Japanese
actor.
Kamal
Hassan
plays
the
male
lead.
I
can't
reveal
much
about
the
role
as
we
haven't
even
started
shooting
for
it.
It
is
to
be
shot
in
Kerala
and
Japan.
I
will
be
leaving
for
Kerala
soon
to
learn
Kalaripayattu.
I
am
a
trained
classical
dancer
but
I
need
to
learn
the
body
language
of
a
trained
Kalari.
However,
it
is
quite
risky
and
many
are
known
to
get
seriously
injured
while
training.
My
mother
is
very
apprehensive
and
is
asking
if
it's
a
must
to
learn
it!
Are
you
doing
any
Malayalam
film?
No.
I
was
offered
four
films
but
I
am
not
doing
any.
Is
it
because
you
want
to
establish
yourself
in
Bollywood
now?
No.
I
am
open
to
doing
any
film,
language
is
not
a
barrier.
But
as
I
told
you
I
can
afford
to
wait
for
a
good
role.
But
your
competitors
may
race
ahead..
I
want
to
concentrate
on
my
career
and
not
look
at
what
others
are
doing
or
not
doing.
I
am
raw
in
films,
I
have
neither
taken
acting
classes
nor
have
I
assisted
directors.
Whatever
I
have
learnt
is
on-the-job.
I
was
14
years
old
studying
in
the
ninth
grade
when
people
told
me
I
had
a
photogenic
face
and
should
try
modelling.
One
thing
led
to
another
and
I
made
my
film
debut
in
a
Malayalam
film
Narendran
Magan.
It
did
average
business,
but
my
second
film
Amma,
Nana,
O
Tamila
Ammayi
in
Telugu
was
a
big
hit
and
I
made
it.