I didn't refuse Farah Khan's offer: Asin

Southern beauty Asin Thottumkal has slammed rumours suggesting that she refused a role in Farah Khan's next directorial venture, Happy New Year, saying she can never say no to the choreographer-turned-director.

"I am extremely upset with this rumour that has obviously been floated by vested interests. I don't understand how such rumours crop up.

"Farah Khan is a close friend of mine there is no way I can refuse her. There was never any discussion over the movie. This news is utter rubbish," Asin clarified in a statement.

Farah, who has earlier made blockbuster films like Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om, supported Asin and said: "The rumour is a complete fabrication. I have not even written the script as yet."

Asin will next be seen in her forthcoming release Vipul Shah's London Dreams, also starring Ajay Devgan and Salman Khan.

Asin rejects Farah Khan’s offer because of SRK?

Asin had a wonderful start with Bollywood as she bagged films with two Khans - Aamir and Salman. She was very vocal that she wanted to work with the third powerful Khan - Shah Rukh. However, when she had the chance to work with SRK, she turned it down.

A few days ago, Farah Khan offered her a role in her next, Happy New Year, which stars Shah Rukh Khan. Asin took her time to think over the offer, consulted her father and then sent word to Farah that she won’t be doing the film.

A close hand reveals, “Ever since Asin appeared on Farah’s show Tere Mere Beach Mein, they have been in touch. When Farah offered her the role, initially Asin was quite excited. It is not known why she refused Farah’s film.”

The close hand further added, “She conveyed that the dates which Farah needed would be clashing with her other assignments.”

It is believed that Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone have set their eyes on the female lead in Happy New Year. Kareena Kapoor is also being considered.

Things you never knew: Asin's French Connection

Asin loves to travel and explore different places and know more about the people and culture. During the shoot of London Dreams in Paris, Asin would go sight seeing a lot. She would visit churches, attended the mass, have street food etc.

A friend of the actress said, “When Asin was shooting for London Dreams, she went sight seeing in Paris. Asin loved the churches in Paris. She even attended the mass. Asin even tried the street food available there. In short work cum pleasure trip for Asin.”

And not many know that Asin can not only read and write but also speak the French language fluently. She's quite a master at it.

A close friend of the actress revealed, “Asin can sing French songs very fluently. In fact her college friends would tease calling her French Nightingale. French was her favourite subject. She was top scorer in the subject.”

Now we know where Asin's love for Paris stems from? One wonders if she was a French actress in her past life.

Negative stories about Salman Khan are all cooked up: Asin

Asin Thottumkal was told horror stories about Salman Khan when she signed "London Dreams" opposite him. But all the misgivings were sorted out once she started shooting with him, Asin says and stresses that all negative stories about the superstar are "cooked up".

"Really, it was all so strange because even before reporting for the film's shoot, there was this particular notion being built in my mind around Salman.

"See, we all know about Aamir Khan being so disciplined. So once I signed 'London Dreams' with Salman, various kinds of stories started coming my way. People commented that 'Aah, you have worked with Aamir; now see what it is to be with Salman', " Asin told.

But the actress didn't face any problems throughout the making of "London Dreams".

"It is nothing less than a case study of its own. I can slice and dice a dozen-odd instances when it was proved time and again that Salman was nothing like he was being made out to be.

"I have absolutely no clue how negative stories about him keep emerging out of nowhere. As I look at them today, I believe these are all someone's cooked up imaginations, " said Asin.

Other than the fact that Salman contributed to the scheduled completion of the film, he too didn't allow his personal problems to come in the way of "London Dreams".

"Let me begin with the misconception of Salman being not punctual. Our first schedule took place abroad and it was wrapped up many days in advance. This means that it was a disciplined shoot and everyone including Salman was punctual. There was absolutely no tardiness on his part and he was always on time, " she said.

She also narrated the incident when Salman's dog died.

"Everyone knows that Salman is so close to his dog. Even when his dog died, he didn't call to cancel the shoot for that day. Instead, he turned up for the shoot in Karjat. It would have been even more difficult since he had to shoot for a happy and rejoicing song, " Asin said.

Even in front of the camera, she didn't face any issues working with Salman. Just like Aamir, Salman too just went ahead with his part and didn't interfere in the way Asin wanted to approach her scenes.

"Whether it was Aamir in 'Ghajini' or Salman in 'London Dreams', I didn't have to make any changes to adapt to their working style. They made me feel really comfortable. I was free to do things the way I wanted to because Aamir is very chilled out and he goes about his own job without interfering.

"Same is true with Salman. He doesn't come to you and tell you how you should be approaching your character. That is why it was so cool working in 'London Dreams'. I am still surprised at why people have negative things to say about Salman, " Asin said.

Releasing Oct 30, "London Dreams" is about a band comprising Salman, Ajay Devgan, Asin, Rannvijay Singh and Adithya Roy Kapoor. Asin plays the role of a dancer in the film.

Asin Thottumkal can sing French songs very fluently

Asin Thottumkal has worked in more than a dozen films, but actually her Bollywood career began with GHAJINI and LONDON DREAMS, her second Hindi film. Asin Thottumkal is quick to add that rather than being stuck with her own thoughts, she lets herself completely in the hands of the director and allows him to mould her as per his vision.

Both GHAJINI and LONDON DREAMS are completely different type of films. But she began working on LONDON DREAMS, were there was no any specific instructions from Vipul and he enough freedom. During the shoot of LONDON DREAMS in Paris Asin Thottumkal would go sight seeing a lot.

Asin Thottumkal loves to travel and explore different places and know more about the people culture. A friend of the actress said, "When Asin was shooting for LONDON DREAMS, she went sight seeing in Paris. Asin loved the churches in Paris. She even attended the mass. Asin Thottumkal even tried the street food available there. In short work-cum-pleasure trip for Asin."

And not many know that Asin Thottumkal can not only read and write but also speak the French language fluently. She's quite a master at it. A close friend of the actress revealed, "Asin can sing French songs very fluently. In fact her college friends would tease calling her French Nightingale. French was her favourite subject. She was also a top scorerer in the subject."

Vipul: Ajay has intensity and Salman has madnes...

Both Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan have their individual movie releases in the coming week (ALL THE BEST and MAIN AURR MRS KHANNA respectively) but Vipul Shah's magnum opus LONDON DREAMS will see the two stars reuniting on the big screen after a decade!

Last seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's smash hit HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM in 1999, Ajay and Salman never got cast together till LONDON DREAMS, in which they play music aficionados in a London-based rock band.

Clarifies Vipul, "I never cast them because I wanted to repeat the HUM DIL... magic. In fact it didn't even occur to me that the two hadn't been together in a film since. I wanted Ajay for his intensity and Salman for his madness and after I cast them someone pointed out the casting coup of sorts! In fact, not many know that Salman and Ajay are great friends in real life and have immense respect for each other. They aren't very overt about it but they share amazing vibes and that will be visible on screen in LONDON DREAMS also."

Ajay bagged Aishwarya Rai in HUM DIL..., let's see who gets lucky with Asin in LONDON DREAMS which releases worldwide on 30th October 2009!

Asin undergoes surgery

Plain Jane of Ghajini, Asin would go under a knife today. She’s going for an Endoscopic sinus surgery also called endoscopy or sinoscopy at the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Mumbai today.

She was hospitalised yesterday when she said, “I had this irritating allergic cold with acute sinus infection and blocked nostrils. My doctor advised me to do this minor surgery to drain my infection and clear the sinus. Within two or three days, I will be back to normal, jumping around as usual”.

No worries for all you Asin fans, as this surgery doesn’t require cutting of the skin and is done through nostrils. On asking Asin’s dad about the surgery he says, “She can go home after three days and it’s nothing serious. She had completed all her ad commitments and I am insisting that she takes two weeks rest at home before she bucks up for London Dreams promotion starting in first week of October.”

Rift between Salman Khan and Asin

Mumbai: Salman Khan, the handsome hunk of bollywood who plays lead in upcoming Rs 75 crore budget flick ‘London Dreams' opposite sizzling hot sexy babe Asin, is at war with his leading lady, who hardly attends discussions about promotion of the film with director Vipul Shah.

Sources close to production house say that Asin is furious with Salman Khan and never attends discussions about promotion of the flick in his presence and sends her father Joseph Thottukmal instead.

However, as Asin plays a pivotal role in the flick, director Vipul Shah makes it a point to keep her informed about the developments, and she, too, does not object to attending meetings with Vipul Shah, after Salman Khan has already left the place. Asin does not have any problem with Ajay Devgan, who plays equally pivotal role in the flick.

Sources close to southern sensation Asin say that the main reason for her being upset with Salman Khan is her blink and miss appearance in the first promos of the flick, which were released some days ago. The first promos had sidelined Asin and focused on only Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, and this infuriated the lady.

The buzz is that Asin believes all this was done at the instance of Salman Khan, and hence she avoids his presence at the promotional discussion with director Vipul Shah. In fact, sources close to Asin say that Vipul Shah was forced by Salman Khan to sideline her in the promos of ‘London Dreams', and this was obviously disliked by the gorgeous babe.

The grapevine has it that initially Asin was ecstatic at getting the opportunity of working with bollywood biggies like Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan in her very second film, after debuting opposite Aamir Khan in ‘Gjajini'. But now this same fact, of ‘London Dreams' being her second film, is troubling her. In fact, she had expected to gain huge publicity with this film, which could have helped her bollywood career, but nothing of the sort is happening.

This Salman Khan-Asin war has also created problems for director Vipul Shah who can not afford to antagonize either of the two stars. Though he bowed to Salman Khan's pressure in sidelining Asin from promos, but he made sure to explain that sidelining as just one off affair, with the promise that all future promotional material would give Asin equal importance.

It may be recalled that Salman Khan had a very good relation with Asin in the initial stages and it is said that it was his recommendation that got her ‘London Dreams' after Aamir's ‘Ghajini'. Even during the shooting of the film in London, Paris and Punjab, Salman and Asin had excellent working chemistry.

However, this all changed when Salman had his way in dominating the promotional aspect of the flick, which resulted in sidelining of Asin from the promos.

‘London Dreams' revolves around two friends played by Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, who wants to do something big in London's musical landscape. The movie is all about their struggles to realize their dreams in that firang city.

Asin is the face for leading brands

Mumbai: Ghajini fame beautiful actress Asin Thotumkal may not have much films on hand but the talks are in progress with a big producer, in the meanwhile the actress isn't sitting idle.

During the last month, Asin has been busy to shoot for various renowned brand names. Asin recently shot for Big Bazaar and Tata Sky, the two big shots in the business arena.

Asin was shooting with prominent photographer Jatin Kampani on Friday for the print advertisement of Big Bazaar.

A source disclosed, "We have already shot the television commercials for Big Bazaar a month before along with MS Dhoni who is our our brand ambassador when he was in India. This is the second phase of the company's advertising campaign."

Salman, Devgan, Asin make music!

Vipul Shah’s decision to shoot the last song of London Dreams in Bhandup in a makeshift maidaan representing a rock stadium turned out to be Asin quite traumatic.

To begin the woes in the middle, when Salman’s dog passed away during the shooting of the song the actor broke down and wept like a baby. But he didn’t cancel the shooting.

Nonetheless, this could qualify as the most difficult climactic song ever shot. Vipul Shah recently shot the final rock–concert number for London Dreams in Bhandup near Mumbai with 5,000 junior artistes cheering Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan, Asin, Ranvijay and Aditya Roy Kapoor who play members of a music band.

Says Vipul, “We were stuck for the last song because of the rains. And then because of swine flu we weren’t allowed to shoot in crowds. But I had no choice. The song couldn’t be delayed.”

Remo choreographed the song and the track was sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shankar Mahadevan.

Says Vipul, “We couldn’t get the stars’ fans to fill up the open-air auditorium-set for the very simple reason that in the earlier concert songs for London Dreams we had seen how unruly the fans get when they see their favourite stars dancing in front of them.”

On top of all the practical problems faced during the shooting of this massive song, the stars were all busy elsewhere. “Salman was shooting for Dus Ka Dum. He requested them to postpone their shooting for two days. Ajay was supposed to start Priyadarshan’s shooting on those days. He asked Priyan to push his dates forward. Asin was doing an endorsement down south. Ranvijay was shooting for another film in Delhi. He flew both days and flew back. And Aditya Roy Kapoor, who was shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish, also accommodated my song.”

To compound Vipul’s troubles, Salman’s dog died during the shooting. “I thought he would leave. But he continued shooting.”

Though the experience of putting the climax song together turned out to be a nightmare Vipul is undeterred. “I’ve relieved my non-core group of technicians for my film Action Replay from their duties for now. When we regroup, they’re free to join us. Akshay and Aishwarya have promised the dates whenever we need them. If the actors are committed to a project nothing can stop a film from reaching the winning post.”

Asin gets a marriage proposal

Proposing marriage to an actress is certainly not easy as you know the obvious answer, but then too some star-struck fans go to any extent to show their love.

Recently, Asin received a marriage proposal from one of her fans and the man did it with passion and panache. He sent her a love letter and a diamond.

Wow! That’s our reaction, but what about Asin, how did she react? The dainty actress confirms the news and was quoted as saying, “It’s an extremely personal issue involving a fan and I wouldn’t really like to comment on it.”

So, for the actress this is a personal issue but one can’t deny that she was overwhelmed by it. According to a source, for Asin it was a bolt-from-the-blue moment, but a bit embarrassing too as it’s not everyday that an actress gets a marriage proposal along with a marvelous, glittering solitaire. So, she was indeed taken aback by this gesture of a frenzied fan.

The man’s heart must be gleaming now, just like the diamond he sent.

Asin's hidden truths revealed only now!

Here's a side to Asin that only her family members know.

A source said, "Asin is actively associated with various NGOs in Kerela and Chennai. She secretly visits these NGOs whenever she finds the time. She loves being actively involved with all the charity work that they do."

Asin personally looks into the disabled and the needy. "But Asin does not like to talk about all this. These things are not meant to be spoken about. She has been doing this for years now and has been a regular visitor to the various institutions in Chennai and Kerela.

Being philanthropic is Asin's second nature and she puts her heart and soul in it."

Hey Asin, since we now know of your philanthropic side, we wish you keep up the good work.

Asin: I didn't share the most intimate secrets with her on Facebook

“Hey There Asin_Thottumkal Is Using Twitter, ” declares the latest social networking website, and then goes on to give us gems like “I want to act in Tamil movie” from the actress.

There’s just one problem. Asin is not on Twitter…or any of the social networking websites. And she can’t laugh off the impersonations any longer.

Asin has a very serious problem. She has impersonators on all the major social-networking websites. “I was ready to overlook these fake IDs using my name as long as they weren’t harmful. But now the problem is getting out of hand.”

The other night a colleague had a whole long conversation with ‘Asin’ and called up the next day to share her excitement about what an intimate conversation they had.

“I nearly fell off my chair. I won’t name this actress. But she said we shared our most intimate secrets on Facebook. I nearly fell of my chair and asked her whom did she share her secrets with. Because it was most certainly not me.

Two days ago a journalist came to interview me and said she got all the information on me from what I had written on Twitter. For the record I’m not on any of the social-networking websites.

Apart from my own website I am not on the internet for any other purpose. I started blogging even before Aamir did in August 2005, ”Asin declares proudly.

Asin is aghast. “I was clubbed with Chetan Bhagat and Shashi Tharoor Asin and put on a social networking website. But I’m not on Orkut, Facebook or Twitter. Apparently there are lots of fake profiles.”

The lies about Asin don’t end at virtual reality. “It’s ages since I have had non-vegetarian food. For all practical purposes I’m a vegetarian. But I read this horrible report about how I love all kinds of exotic meats. I haven’t been approached by PETA. But that doesn’t mean I’ve to go the other way.”

Asin’s call to save Mother Nature

Malayalam beauty Asin has ruled the south for some time and with just one movie release in Hindi, she is already the most sought after actress in Bollywood. Coming from the ‘God’s own country’ she seems to relate with nature a lot.

Recently she had also said that she depends on natural ayurvedic treatments. Meanwhile according to sources, she has started to blog her thoughts on the internet. Even in her blogs she has advocated the need to save Mother Nature.

She wrote that the situation was very bad these days and everyone should contribute to save the environment. Points taken Asin!!!