Sudden impact

Do you get mobbed in Mumbai?
I think people in Mumbai are really cool. When they see me,they wave out or greet me. But when I was shooting for London Dreams in Chandigarh,I got a taste of North India. The crowd was encouraging and kept calling out my name. If I didn’t respond to Asin,they would resort to Kalpana. I loved the food there,specially the aloo parathas.

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’m used to that and make it a point to be on time for a shoot or an event. 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’m working with. Most of it has been shot in London and Paris and 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 and such. 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’. I used to tell them I’m not a thing to be addressed like that.

What is your role in London Dreams?
I play Priya,a London-based Indian who’s part of a music band,which has Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan as the lead singers. She acts like a traditional South Indian girl in front of her parents but when she steps out,she switches over to strappy,short outfits and hot pants.

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 guy but he turned out to be quite a prankster. He’s witty and is complete entertainment on the sets.

Ghajini’s producer Madhu Mantena has said that he has cancelled the three-film contract with you because of your attitude?
I never sign any contract deals with producers. There’s no question of him cancelling it. In fact,the day the report came in the paper,he told 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.

You refused a Priyadarshan film co-starring Akshay Kumar. In fact,you haven’t signed any Hindi films apart from London Dreams.
I would love to work with Priyan; I have grown up on his films in Malayalam. He has offered me films in the past too. I have refused them for different reasons. For me,the important things are the script,my character,the director,producer and co-artistes,in that order. I try for the best combination.

It’s being said you charge Rs 1.5 crore for a film.
Money is not a criterion. 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. It will be shot in Kerala and Japan. I will be leaving for Kerala soon to learn Kalaripayattu. I’m a trained classical dancer but I need to learn the body language of a trained Kalari.