After achieving enviable success in the southern Indian film industries, actress Asin decided to give Bollywood a shot with ‘Ghajini’ in 2008. The film – a remake of her own Tamil hit of the same name with Surya – was a blockbuster in Hindi too, and Asin was widely perceived as star material for Bollywood as well.
Things haven’t quite worked out as expected, but 2011 could well be a watershed year for her career. She’s already notched up the Tamil hit ‘Kaavalan’ a few months back (her first southern film since 2008), and she’s now readying herself for the release of ‘Ready’ in which she co-stars with Salman Khan. Asin talks to Consulting Editor Anna M.M. Vetticad about the balancing act required to cater to a pan-India audience:
What can you tell me about your role in ‘Ready’?
In ‘Ready’ I play this girl called Sanjna who is very close to her family but she has certain issues with some family members. It’s about how she comes across this guy called Prem who is naughty but helps her solve these issues, how they fall in love and how their love culminates.
Are you happy with the way things are going for you in Hindi films?
I’m very happy with the way things are going because I’m doing selective projects and working with people who I know I’ll have a good time working with. I think it’s going really well for me especially coming from down south and not being familiar with the Hindi film industry before coming here. You start with an Aamir Khan which is a dream come true for any girl, and have a huge hit like ‘Ghajini’ which creates records at the time. I followed that up with Salman and Ajay in ‘London Dreams’. Though that film did not do well at the box office, to then continue working with Salman again back to back in ‘Ready’ … And now pairing up with Akshay and John in ‘Housefull 2’ … Ya I’m quite happy.
When you made your Hindi debut, you were already a big star in the southern industries. But you packed bag and baggage and moved to Mumbai. Looking back, was that a wise decision?
For sure. I’d done my fill of movies down south and was trying a new industry. Hindi films usually take up more time than south projects, probably because of the scale at which they are made. It just was more practical to have a place in Bombay instead of living out of a suitcase in a hotel. I was also doing a lot of endorsements. All that happens in Bombay and nowhere else. So now, even if I am taking up projects down south, it’s just a two hour flight away. Ya, I think it was a pretty good decision. And you know right now unless something really excites me, that’s very different from what I’ve done already down south, I won’t take it up.
You’ve just had a hit in the south this year so there is reason for you to celebrate, right?
‘Kaavalan’ is my third movie with Vijay so it’s a kind of hat trick. And I got to work with Siddique who is one of the top Malayalam directors. I’ve grown up watching his films and have always admired him. In fact I’d committed to ‘Kaavalan’ before I did ‘Ghajini' in Hindi. Vijay didn’t have dates at the time, so when Siddique got Vijay’s dates and came back to me, it was a word I had to keep. It’s proved to be a success, so you know south audiences still look forward to seeing me on screen. And it was not like something I’d done before in Tamil. Usually Vijay’s films have a lot of mass masala and set songs choreographed with really peppy folk beats. The last two films I’d done with him were in that space, which is mass commercial fare with a lot of fights and these dance sequences.
‘Kaavalan’ is the first time I’m doing a love story with Vijay and the first time he is doing a love story after years. He did that in the initial part of his career and then moved to a more macho hero image. That is also one of the reasons why I took up ‘Kaavalan’. If it was the kind of movie I’d already done with Vijay, I wouldn’t have been as enthusiastic about it. I wouldn’t want to do a project in the south for visibility alone. It has to appeal to me.
Are you disappointed that ‘Kaavalan’s Hindi remake 'Bodyguard' stars Kareena, not you?
Not at all. It will be too much of an overdose if I did a third film back-to-back with Salman right after ‘London Dreams’ and ‘Ready’.
Was the Hindi ‘Bodyguard’ offered to you?
No. I mean I’m so close to both the groups from the hero’s and the director’s side. I was the first to wish them on the day of the pooja. They keep coming home, I keep getting updates about the shoot from everyone, from Salman and the producer to the ADs to everybody I’ve worked with because I know them so well. It kind of feels like my own project even though I’m not part of it as an actor.
Wouldn’t it have been good for you to be in the Hindi version, considering that with Ghajini you’ve already had success with the Hindi remake of a superhit Tamil film you’ve acted in?
But three movies back to back with Salman would have been asking too much.
Weren’t you worried about the three-year gap between your last Tamil film and ‘Kaavalan’?
I’ve never been that kind of person. After ‘Ghajini’ became a superhit, everyone said I should go on a signing spree. But I didn’t sign any film for several months. Then when ‘Dasavathaaram’ and ‘Pokkiri’ were announced, everyone said, she was right to wait.
You belong to the conservative Syrian Christian community of Kerala. Is there a balancing act involved for you there? And is there a difference between the demands of audiences for Hindi films and southern Indian films?
There’s definitely a difference. Down south audiences like to look at their actors as one among them, as the girl next door, as somebody who is a girl like them who just happens to do movies and yet has no airs of being a star. They like that in an actor or an actress. Which is why down south you see a lot of stars not behaving like stars but dressing normally, going out without wearing make-up, being a normal person like any other person would be. But Bollywood audiences would view you as a star if you carry that star persona off screen also. They like their stars to carry that little bit of stardust off screen also. So somewhere when you are doing both the industries, especially as a female, you need to strike a balance and make sure you don’t antagonize both sets of audiences. I also take into consideration my roots. I am from a Syrian Christian family in Kerala who are very very orthodox. They’re even worse than Brahmins. So ya, somewhere, when you have to maintain that connect with your house, your relationships, your home state and the entire south region, you have to respect their views and also cradle the northern industry and the northern audience tastes. It is a tightrope walk for somebody who is present in both areas, who is not focusing only on Bollywood. It is easier for somebody who is just concentrating on Bollywood
So is it true that you are very particular about what you will and will not wear, etc?
That’s a very easy decision to make because I will not wear anything I’m uncomfortable in, or anything that looks vulgar on me. That’s a personal choice because what looks vulgar to me would probably not be vulgar to another person. If I wear clothes that I feel look vulgar on me or will not suit me and would make me feel uncomfortable, that would be an injustice to myself and to the audience. Because if you are uncomfortable that’s gonna show on screen and that’s gonna affect the movie and the character you are playing and it’s not gonna come out right. So you might as well not attempt it. So ya, that’s a very easy decision.
Do you think that’s made things more difficult for you in Bollywood?
I don’t think so. The kind of offers that have come to me have not required me to expose or to be so overtly glamorous that I had to reject them.
Do you think it’s possible that there might be offers not coming to you because it’s just assumed that you won’t do them because it’s too daring?
I don’t know. Everybody has their own pre-conceived notions. I mean, cinema is definitely a visual medium, you need to look good to be in films. And definitely in Bollywood because it’s glossy and a lot of importance is given to looks. I would definitely want to look good, I’d dress myself as well as I can and take the help of whatever stylist can help me achieve that. Instead of sitting with their pre-conceived notions that “oh god she’s from the south so she wouldn’t do this and that” , people have to take that risk and find out whether I actually would do that or whether it would really look good on me.
I remember reading that you will now be wearing more revealing clothes because ...
(Cuts in) Oh that’s just speculation and tabloid journalism. The moment it was announced that I was part of ‘Housefull 2', they just thought the girls from ‘Housefull 2’ would wear bikinis like the girls in ‘Housefull 1’. Nobody even bothered to ask me whether I was actually going to wear a bikini and transform myself.
So would you wear a bikini in a film?
As of now I’m not, so I need to end that speculation.
Meaning, you are not wearing a bikini in ‘Housefull’, is that what you’re saying?
Ya.
Would you be comfortable wearing a bikini in a film?
I would be comfortable wearing a bikini in my personal life. Right now nothing like that has been offered to me in a film, so I’ll cross the bridge when I come to it.
The general assessment is that things haven’t worked out for you in the Hindi film industry the way people were expecting it to when you made your debut with ‘Ghajini’.
Ya, I can imagine. Each person has their own perceptions and their own views and they’re entitled to make their own judgement. But the way I look at it, it’s been pretty good. Because like I said, if you were from Bombay and you just had to cater to those tastes, then it’s easier. When you have to balance the taste of the entire country, when you have to personally connect with each of the audiences … I’m from Kerala so I definitely have a connect there already, and I did the most number of movies in Tamil, and then I got my first award in Telugu films so there’s a personal connect with the Telugu audiences. So there is a one-on-one connect with all these audiences. To make them all happy and to maintain that is quite difficult. I think I’ve managed to do that pretty well. (ENS)