So, is this a homecoming of sorts? “I have missed Chennai a lot!” pipes the sparkling young lady, “ I’m here for only half a day, so there’ll be hardly any time to meet up with friends. Chennaiites are among the warmest people.”But many believe she will not do Tamil films anymore. “Living in Mumbai doesn’t mean I won’t do films in other languages,” says Asin. “I am very open to doing a masala movie. But my role will have to be meaty.” And while on that topic, which one did she like better; Ghajini in Tamil or Hindi? “I preferred the romance in the Tamil Ghajini and the action in the Hindi version. But as for my character- Kalpana, I found no difference,” she states.
If her spirited performance as Kalpana got her wide recognition, it was Dasavatharam with Kamal Haasan that announced that Asin was indeed destined for bigger things. And now, in her new movie The 19th Step, she is back to work with him again. How does she feel? “I’m looking forward to working with him again! This time though, he won’t play my love interest (he plays her guru in the movie). Last time, when we were supposed to be a romantic pair, we spent most of our on-screen time bickering!” Her romantic partner in this film is Tadanobu Asano, the superstar from Japan. “I hear he is the Brad Pitt of Japan. I will be doing a photo shoot with him soon,” reveals Asin with a childlike glee. She is training rigorously in Kalaripayattu for the movie, and chirps, “Kalari has been a beautiful experience. It feels good to come back to the roots of my home state.”
How true are the rumours that she has signed up a Priyadarsan movie with Abhishek Bachchan and one Murgadoss movie with SRK. “I never discuss projects before they are formally announced,” she says guardedly. As for London Dreams, all she has to say is, “It will release once the multiplex issue gets sorted out.”
Will she ever move back to Chennai? “I live in Mumbai now because most of my work happens there. If I start shooting in Chennai, I will definitely come back.” So, is itMumbai Indians or Chennai Super kings for her? “Chennai Super kings!” she says at once.
So, how does she unwind? “ I am in that phase of life, where work is pleasure. But when I need to relax, I like going out for meals with my friends. Or else, I curl up with a book. My Harrington Road home in Chennai used to be a popular hang out for my friends,” she says.
Asin says of her friends in Chennai, “I’m very good friends with Geetha (actor Vijay’s wife, Sangeetha), and I keep in touch with Vijay, Suriya and Jo, Shoba aunty and SAC sir. I’m the first one to wish them on their special days.” And it is her tech savvy nature that has made her thick ‘SMS buddies’ with fellow actress Deepika Padukone. But, things haven’t been all that friendly. Asin has had her share of “plain cheap, not vicious rumours”, as she puts it. How does she live with it? “In Mumbai, negative publicity is more rampant. I realise that this stems from insecurity; it is a part of the industry and I have made my peace with it,” she says coolly.
Being seen at several food guide launches, would she count herself a foodie? “Completely! I know that the food-actress relationship is an anathema, but it’s different for me. I adore Indian cuisine, and prawn curry is one of my faves.”
Would she ever consider lip-locking in her movies? She muses, “If it is some camera angle gimmick, where it is made to look like a kiss, it would be fine, but never a real lip-lock.”
As of now, Asin “would love nothing more than to work with Rajnikant and Amitabh Bachchan.” And on that happy note, she signs off.