South Indian actress Trisha Krishnan has entered Bollywood following the trend of debuting with a leading man far older than her. In 'Khatta Meetha', she stars opposite 43-year-old Akshay Kumar.The age difference doesn't bother her. She is currently shooting a Tamil film opposite 55-plus Kamal Haasan. But for her second Hindi film, Trisha will be seen with 24-year-old Prateik Babbar.
"The second Hindi film is a love story with just me and the guy in central roles. It's a subject that can't go wrong. I've already done the Tamil version of this film 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya'. Now the same director, Gautham Menon, is remaking it in Hindi with Prateik and me," Trisha, 27, said.
"I think we should be kick-starting it in August. I am excited because unlike 'Khatta Meetha', where I don't have a central part, this one has a central role for me."
"It was important for me to line up a second Hindi film before the first was released," she said.
Speaking excitedly from Europe, where she is shooting with Kamal Haasan, Trisha said: "I've been away from home for almost 40 days. Though I've my mom with me I do miss home. But the shooting with Kamal sir and Maddy (Madhavan) is great fun."
Trisha confesses she had her lines in Hindi dubbed in her first film. When you tell her that Akshay said she spoke Hindi well, Trisha laughs it off.
"Did he say that? I must thank him. The truth is I was a bit nervous about doing my own lines in Hindi. I've done so many Telugu films. But I don't know the language at all. I know the grammar in Hindi but I can barely manage to speak it."
"In Chennai no one talks in Hindi. I was a little worried about my Hindi since my character in 'Khatta Meetha' is from a fluent Hindi-speaking belt. So both Priyan and I decided I wouldn't dub my own lines. But it's not a problem. I know I'll soon master it. It's simpler than the south Indian languages," the actress said.
Trisha had got Hindi film offers earlier but didn't jump on to the Bollywood bandwagon until Priyadarshan's offer came along.
"I was so busy doing Tamil and Telugu films that I didn't get time to consider Hindi films although offers did come. Also I wanted to do something that would give me a wide audience. I chose Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar... Their combination always works."
Trisha is candid to admit she didn't have that much to do in 'Khatta Meetha'.
"It isn't a heroine-centric role. But I felt it would give me visibility. Look, I may be known in the south. But in Bollywood no one knows me... not yet. When I started in the south I did smaller parts with big heroes. That always worked for me. One needs to be a part of hit films specially at the start," she reasoned.
Priyadarshan is Trisha's mentor. "He launched me in the south seven years ago. He had promised he'd launch me in the right vehicle. In five minutes I knew I wanted to do 'Khatta Meetha'. I want to first make sure I establish myself in Hindi before I do more experimental roles. This is the trend I followed in the south as well."
On working with Akshay, she said: "In the 'Khatta Meetha' unit Akshay was the only person I didn't know. And he wasn't just my co-star, he was also my producer. He was really sweet. Priyan and Akshay are by now like family to one another. They made sure I was comfortable. This was one of the most professional units I've worked with."
Trisha is open to shifting base to Mumbai. "It would depend on the offers. I've always had relatives in Mumbai. I've also done a lot of ads in Mumbai. Though my family won't move out of Chennai, I am hardly in one city any way," she said.
