When the story idea was conceived, we wanted someone from the Thai background to lend the film authenticity. Most of her lines in the film are in the Thai language. But people will understand because there is a Sardar character, who lives in Thailand, and translates for us.

Nagesh auditioned about 100 girls, and discovered Lena.

We had a great time on the sets. It must have been difficult for Lena to work with a unit that does not understand her language. But the good part was that she had come to Mumbai the week before the shooting started, for rehearsals. We got to know each other and our characters then, so that helped.

Did she have a language problem?

Thai people are not comfortable speaking English. But Lena knew a little English; that saved us! She also understood the way Bollywood worked. In fact, I remember when Nagesh 'cut' a shot because we were very confortable with each other, and he did not want that level of comfort at that point in the film.

Was Lena comfortable with dancing?

Being an aerobic instructor, she was quite comfortable with the dance steps. Plus, she had seen quite a few Hindi films and she knew about the song-and-dance sequences.

Also read: The 2007 Reader's Choice Awards

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