Remakes help me reach out to more people: Asin

NEW DELHI - After making it big in Bollywood with the Hindi version of her Tamil film “Ghajini”, Asin Thottumkal is now on a remake spree. The young actress says such offers only help her reach out to a wider audience in different parts of the country.

“If it’s an entertaining film and a great story then I think it should be made for a larger audience and not particularly restricted to a group…Remakes help in doing that - to get a wider audience and to get the film across to a larger number of people,” Asin told IANS over telephone from Mumbai.

A superstar down south, Asin made her Bollywood debut opposite Aamir Khan in the hit psychological action thriller Ghajini” (2008) - a remake of its 2005 Tamil namesake. She played the same role in both outings.

The 24-year-old is now working on “Ready” with Salman Khan, and a Tamil movie “Kaavalan”, which are the remakes of a Telugu namesake and Malayalam movie “Bodyguard” respectively. Apparently Salman will also star in a Hindi remake of “Kaavalan” after “Ready”.

Will she star in the Hindi remake too?

“I have not discussed that yet with anyone and I don’t think the casting has been decided,” said Asin.

Aren’t there any problems of repeating yourself in a remake?

“The director is there to help you in that and you know your character well. For you it’s a new script and a fresh project. You are not in any way repeating yourself. So you approach it in that way,” she said.

Having worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films, Asin is open to working in other languages as well.

“Language is not a criterion. It depends on the project. If a project excites me… I’d readily take that up. I’m basically looking at projects that are not language-bound or from different boundaries,” she said.

Did she miss the big screen since she’s been absent after her second Hindi movie “London Dreams” (2009)?

“Not really, because I have been busy with other stuff and the two films that I am doing have a really hectic schedule. And I’ll be coming back pretty soon on the big screen.”

So how is she balancing her work in Bollywood and down south?

“It’s not a strategy or plan that I have made. It depends upon the kind of scripts that are coming my way at that particular point of time. So there’s no strategy that I’ll do one Hindi and one Tamil movie,” said the actress, who is also a prolific painter and actively involved in charity work.

Asin has been roped in as the face of Lux soap’s new variant Lux Sandal & Cream. Any plans to take up work on TV like other stars?

“I am doing my share of TV time with endorsements,” said Asin, who features in commercials for Mirinda, Big Bazaar, Sure - Anti perspirant, Tata Sky, Clinic All Clear and Fairever fairness cream.

The actress was also embroiled in a row recently when Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) activists held a black flag protest against her at Mettupalayam reportedly for shooting “Ready” in Sri Lanka as they felt it was an ‘anti-Tamil’ stand.

“I’d much rather not talk about that. It’s something that has been in the past…It was blown out of proportion. In fact, I wasn’t even there when it happened…These were sensationalised,” she said.

Rumours are also rife that the actress is in Anurag Basu’s next, “Silence”.

“I’d like to maintain my silence about that,” Asin said adding that she will “be starting two new projects by early next year”.

(Robin Bansal can be contacted at robin.b@ians.in)