READY FOR MORE!

Actress Asin, delighted with the response to her latest flick, speaks her heart out to CT

Home is where the heart is. And Asin’s heart, it seems, is well and truly in Chennai. “Work and friends keep bringing me back to Chennai,” begins the actress, who makes no bones of the fact that she is delighted with the response to her latest flick that hit the screens for Pongal. Says she, “My latest film with Vijay is not a mass film like the earlier two hits that I’d given with him. It is a mellow love story which has been accepted by the masses. Incidentally, this film completes the hat-trick of hits that Vijay and I have given together.” Asin’s career moves have never been easy to understand. She announced her arrival in Kollywood with a bang and then moved up the popularity charts with amazing deftness, only to announce her decision to shift to Bollywood at a time when she was considered one among the top five actresses here. Then, after making waves in Hindi as well, she chose to come back to do a Kollywood film with Vijay, even as rumours about her having bid a permanent farewell to the Tamil film industry began doing the rounds.

Ask her about these interesting decisions of hers and she clarifies, “I was in the Tamil film industry when a film of mine was remade in Hindi. Then, a couple of interesting projects over there came my way and so, I agreed to do them. Meanwhile, my latest film with Vijay too was offered to me and I found it to be a different venture which excited me. So, I returned here to do it as well. For me, the project is the criteria. Not the industry, not the language or the money. I don’t have a strategy when it comes to deciding the films I work. I’m someone who goes by what my heart says and it’s worked for me. In fact, my decisions have gained me acceptance from different sets of audiences. I think I’m very fortunate to have a pan-Indian appeal.”

Does that mean her fans here in Tamil Nadu will get to see her more often in Tamil films too? Says the actress, “Kollywood is my parent film industry. It was here that I was born as an actress and grew as an artist. I would definitely love to do more Tamil films. I feel more connected to the people here. In fact, I call it my own industry.”

Her assurance is sure to put a lot of rumours to rest and give much-needed relief to several producers and directors in the Tamil film industry, who have been complaining of late about the shortage of talented heroines.

So, what is she working on now? Signs off the actress, “I’m busy with Ready now. I’m off to Bangkok to shoot for the film, which is expected to hit the screens in May.”