Trisha with Akshay

Finally, Trisha has started shooting for her first Hindi film Khatta Meeta. The film, directed by her mentor Priyadarsan, has Akshay Kumar in the lead.

The shoot is taking place in a remote picture postcard type village in Baramati, 100 kilometres from Pune. Trisha, who was shooting with Silambarasan in New York for Gautham Menon’s Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, dashed to Chennai to get the blessings of her grandmother and mother, before leaving for Pune.

Trisha is not allowed to speak to the press before the release of the film. However, her friends, who met her when she was in Chennai for a few hours, say she was brimming with confidence, as Priyan had narrated the final script to her. Her role is the pivot around which the film revolves. In an exclusive telephonic interview with CT, Priyadarsan said, “Trisha has two different avatars in the script though it’s not a double role. Her role in the film will be more challenging than the roles that have been played by heroines in my earlier films. It requires her to play two characters in different time periods.” Priyadarsan also pointed out that unlike his earlier slapstick comedies with Akshay, Khatta Meeta will be a family film on the lines of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee films, with lots of scope for the actress to perform.

Anna Singh is designing Trisha’s wardrobe in the film; with the emphasis being on ethnic wear. Priyan is particular that Trisha be introduced as a north Indian girl in the film, and there are no traces of her south Indian roots. Says Priyadarshan, “Trisha is turning out to be the surprise package. Before the shoot, she had informed us that she couldn’t converse in Hindi even though it was her second language in school. But she took all of us by surprise when she spoke fluently in Hindi. I could see the smile on Akki’s face as he was delighted with her performance.”

Meanwhile, Trisha has also taken a strategic decision not to place all her eggs in one basket. Just before the shoot of her maiden Bollywood film, she further strengthened her ties with Tollywood. The actress has signed up with mass hero NTR to be his heroine for the first time in Brindavanam, directed by Vamsi Paidipalle.

It means she has two Telugu films with top heroes Venkatesh and NTR, one film in Tamil with Simbu and Khatta Meeta with Akshay Kumar. It seems Trisha knows how to navigate through the extremely tricky showbiz terra firma.