Bombay Dreams for Asin

Early this year, Asin moved lock, stock and barrel from her Chennai apartment to a spanking new flat in Lokhandwala Complex in Mumbai. At that time it was made clear to her Tamil producers that she was moving to Mumbai to complete Ghajini with Aamir Khan. However, last week the pretty actress signed a Hindi film titled London Dreams opposite Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, to be directed by Vipul Shah.

The grapevine is also abuzz that Bollywood’s hottest director Priyadarshan has signed her up to be the heroine in a film with Akshay Kumar, to start in November. In fact, the July issue of an international fashion magazine has Asin on its cover as one of the heroines to look out for in Bollywood.
So is the queen of Kollywood abdicating her throne? It looks like that, as the actress has not signed any Tamil film after Dasavatharam though the actress keeps saying that she is “open to doing more films in Tamil if the right script comes along.”

Kollywood producers, who have repeatedly knocked at her doors offering her plum roles opposite superstars, have now forgotten her and crowned her arch rival Nayanthara as the new number one. Industry pundits predict that Asin will probably be the next big South Indian actress to make it big in Bollywood.

Asin has worked magic with the family and youth audiences; her portrayal of Kalpana in Ghajini made her a star. Add to this that Asin dubs in her own voice augurs well for the characters she portrays. In the Hindi version of Ghajini also, she has dubbed in her own voice, which was appreciated by Aamir Khan. Experts also say that she has the best strike rate among the current crop of heroines — 7 of her 9 releases in Tamil are hits.

Will the pretty actress find her feet in Bollywood? She is a complete outsider who has no industry connections other than an impressive CV in Chennai. Her plus point is that she has a pan-Indian look and is familiar to North Indian audiences due to the product endorsements she’s done. Asin is a perfectionist with a fiery determination to succeed, and in Bollywood it may just pay off.