'I realised Amitabh Bachchan is a big star'

The only thing British actress Annabelle Wallace knew about Bollywood was that the Hindi film industry was able to survive the onslaught of Hollywood when other film industries around the world were going through a bad phase. 

When she signed her first Hindi film, Dil Jo Bhi Kahey, she realised that Bollywood was, in fact, bigger than what she had imagined. "After acting with Amitabh Bachchan, I realised he is a big star the world over," Annabelle tells Chief Correspondent Syed Firdaus Ashraf. On the eve of the film's release, she opens up some more:

I was doing theatre in London before coming to Mumbai. I have also stayed in Portugal briefly.

I had seen only two films with an Indian connection earlier -- Bend it Like Beckham and Monsoon Wedding. I loved them and understood a lot about the Indian culture and their weddings.

When I did Dil Jo Bhi Kahey, I realised India had a very rich culture. There are people of different faiths in this country and traditions that are centuries old. One cannot understand India so easily, especially a person like me because I have done just one film and spent just a little time here. Moreover, my film is based in Mauritius and is about people involved in different cultures. The film is about how different cultures meet and how there is a clash of ideas. In Mauritius, there are Dutch, French, English and Indians.

I play Sophie. She is very quiet and shy, which is very contrary to my nature! She falls in love with an Indian (Karan Sharma) and problems arise. Lots of girls go through this. It is easy to fall in love. Once you are in it, you cannot control your emotions.

I was surprised when an Indian journalist asked me how I felt about the unprofessional behaviour of Bollywood personalities. I replied saying that, on the contrary, everyone I dealt with was very professional. They approached my agent, fixed my dates, narrated a bound script and everything was smooth. I will be happy to do more Bollywood films.

But I have not learnt much Hindi. I don't need to speak much Hindi in Dil Jo Bhi Kahey. Just some words like bhook lagi, paani, shukriya and main tumse pyaar karti hoon.

I learnt a lot from Amitabh Bachchan. He has a lot of wisdom and has so much to teach you about acting and other things.