Mumbai: Actress Sonakshi Sinha, who will be seen sharing screen space with superstar Rajinikanth in her debut Tamil film 'Lingaa', says she decided to make a foray into Southern cinema as it is creatively very rich.
"Ever since 'Dabangg' released I was getting lot of offers from down South but I was not able to take it up as I had films keeping me busy here. This time I wanted to make that foray into South Indian films as creatively they are rich and they make such wonderful films... I wanted to experience this whole new world," Sonakshi told PTI.
"I couldn't have asked for a better debut in Tamil cinema. Here in Bollywood I made my debut with superstar Salman Khan in 'Dabangg' and in South with superstar Rajinikanth. I am very happy," Sonakshi said.
Talking about the South legend and co-star, Sonakshi said, "The popularity of Rajini sir is so much that there were several fans while we were shooting. He is an amazing person and actor. He is a huge superstar but he is very humble man. He talks to everybody nicely."
Ask her if she also is a big Rajini fan, the 26-year-old actress said, "I have not grown up watching too many films of him. I had seen 'Hum' and I used to watch it over and over again I just loved him a lot in that film."
Sonkashi's actor-politician father, Shatrughan Sinha and Rajinikanth share a friendly equation.
"I did not feel intimidated. When we were on sets, I went upto him and said 'it is an honour to be working with you but I am nervous'. He said 'why you should be nervous I should be nervous as you are my friend's daughter'. That broke the ice and it was nice of him to keep the conversation humorous," Sonakshi said.
"The role is not that he would or I would feel uncomfortable with each other. It is a very well written role. I am glad to be part of the film," she said.
Directed by K S Ravikumar, the film spans generations and goes from current times to the flashback.
"'Lingaa' is based in two eras, one in present and other in 1940s... I wanted to be part of this magical world," she said without revealing any other details of her role.
Since Sonakshi has worked with south directors like Prabhu Deva and A R Murugadoss, she says she is comfortable with the language. "Luckily language was not the barrier for me as I am good with it (languages) and accent. I have worked with lot of south Indian directors I know the basic tone of the language. I had somebody prompting the dialogue from behind so I would repeat that or somebody would hold a card so I would read it out," she added.
The shooting of 'Lingaa', also starring Anushka Shetty and Jagapathy Babu is currently underway in Mysore. The film will have music by A R Rahman. Sonakshi says she is open to doing more south Indian films.
"I am open to working in good films, in good content films. Among the South actors I would like to work with Mahesh Babu, Ravi Teja and Surya," she added.
On the differences between the two film industries South and Bollywood, the actress says, "I think work happens much quicker there (South) in terms of speed. The film unit there is much concise... here there are too many people on the sets."
In Bollywood, Sonakshi will be seen next opposite Akshay Kumar in 'Holiday'. Then she has Prabhu Deva's next 'Action Jackson' and 'Tevar' with Arjun Kapoor.