After having enjoyed stardom down South, Asin Thottumkal can now boast of an equally successful career in Hindi cinema. Her co-stars have included two of the three big Khans, Bajirao Singham, Bachchan Jr and of course, Khiladi Kumar. We wouldn’t be surprised to learn that other actresses were envious.

She smiles and says, “I’m lucky that these kind of films are coming my way and the superstars of the industry are working with me. But I actually first see the script, director, producer, and then the co-star, when I sign a film.”

Although she is smiling, she seems unwell. “Oh, I call this the ‘Khiladi Bug’. I’ve been shooting for ‘Khiladi 786’ and Akshay has been keeping unwell for some time now and I think I’ve now caught the bug. Akshay even got sunstroke and all. Also, the film has been hectic. But ‘Khiladi’ is a big franchise and I feel glad to be a part of it,” she confesses.

Asin replaced Nargis Fakhri in the film, one schedule of which has been completed. Now she’s back to concentrating on Rohit Shetty’s ‘Bol Bachchan’ that is up for release. Her co-stars in the film are Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan  and Prachi Desai. So who is the biggest ‘Bol Bachchan’? “It has to be Abhishek. On screen and off it too. Prachi could compete with Abhishek. And then me. Ajay is out of competition. He hardly speaks,” she says with a laugh.

The actress, who has previously worked with Ajay in ‘London Dreams’, says, “I think Ajay is a fabulous actor and he’s given a rocking performance in ‘Bol Bachchan’. He was completely into his character and looked like a ‘pehelwaan’ in terms of his body language and all. ‘London Dreams’ was a completely different film; both are in two different zones. So it was a whole new experience altogether.”

Asin also seems happy about being directed by Rohit Shetty. “You know it’s interesting, he seems like a South director! Really! He is disciplined and organized. And just like the Southern directors, he likes his heroines healthy. He doesn’t like thin heroines. During ‘Housefull 2’, I’d lost a lot of weight. So, when we were shooting in Jaipur, he would call for this huge ‘thali’ and make me sit down and eat. He might seem all rough and tough, but he is a soft guy,” she reveals.

After ‘Housefull 2’, was it similar to do another comedy, ‘Bol Bachchan’? “‘Housefull 2’ is more slapstick, more gimmicky. ‘Bol Bachchan’ is more about funny situations. I was laughing when I heard the narration itself, which happens very rarely. And I feel the script has been executed equally well,” she explains.

How comfortable is she with the genre? “Oh, I think I’m very comfortable doing comedy. In fact, I enjoy doing it. Shooting for this film has been a lot of fun,” Asin says.

She’s paired opposite Ajay in the film, but also shares screen space with Abhishek for the first time. And she’s all praises for him. “I think this role was tailor-made for Abhishek. He’s done such a brilliant job. His role is the most realistic. He’s pulled off both his roles — Abhishek Bachchan and Abbas Ali — well. I laughed so much at his portrayal of Abbas on the sets,” she says.

Awaits to be seen if ‘Bol Bachchan’ will join the Rs 100 crore club just like Asin’s previous films ‘Ghajini’, ‘Ready’, and ‘Housefull 2’.