Asin to learn Kalaripayattu

Miss Best Debutante of Bollywood will now be Miss Martial Arts of India! Asin, the breezy girl who mesmerized hearts in Hindi cinema with her chirpy girl looks in Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini, is all set to learn the ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu (stick fighting). She will soon return to her home state Kerala to learn the art from a group of traditional Kalaripayattu gurus.

Why is she suddenly learning Kalaripayattu? The good news is that Asin will be starring in 19th Step , a Indo-Japanese romance where she will be sharing screen space with Japanese star Tadanobu Asano. Directed by Bharat Bala and produced by Walt Disney,�19th Step will portray Asin as a traditional Indian girl well-versed in martial arts and dance.�To be�made in�Japanese and Tamil, the�film will be later dubbed in Hindi.

Ask her how does it feel to go back to Kerala, her motherland? Instantly she�gushes with excitement. “I needed to learn Kalaripayattu. It is considered the mother of all martial arts. Back home, I'll have a group of traditional Kalaripayattu gurus teaching me the ancient form.”

What about coming back to Tamil? Is she not worried about losing her recent fame in Bollywood? “No, I'm really not worried about not being seen often in Bollywood. Just because my Hindi film did well doesn't mean I do only Hindi films. I liked this particular Tamil film, and so I'm doing it. And I must tell you this Tamil project has been in the pipeline for three years, since the time I was busy with the Tamil�Ghajini. Now, Walt Disney is producing the film and we start later this year,” says a confident Asin.

Asin's training begins in April this year. Hope we see a different and defiant Asin in the film.