The actress is in Los Angeles, lives in a 3BHK apartment in a high-rise that has a peculiar safeguard against earthquakes

While Mallika Sherawat has returned from Los Angeles, Koyna Mitra is holding the B-Town fort in the City of Angels in her absence. The actress has been signed by an agency there that will manage her endorsements and projects. She is presently staying in a posh high-rise apartment in LA, which is on "wheels"!

Koyna laughs, "California is famous for earthquakes, so new high-rise buildings have huge wheels built on underground grids beneath the building. When earthquakes occur, they just sway in stead of crashing and falling."

Initially, the actress was staying at a villa in Beverly Hills but moved out due to security concerns. Her current apartment building has a lobby and full-time security."

Lovin' it

She chose to live in downtown LA as "It's bustling with activity and reminds me of India." Her spacious apartment on the 18th floor of Tenten Wilshire overlooks the Lakers stadium. It has three bedrooms and a living area.

The decor is white, black and chrome. Koyna's most excited about the walk-in closet, the make-up room and the gym, one level above her apartment.

But her favourite spot is the terrace. "I love it out there. I can see the mountains and at night the whole sight is beautiful with the city lit up."

She also has a live-in Mexican cook and assistant. "Carolina takes care of me and cooks my kind of food. I taught her to make adrak chai, though. I eat barley, vegetables and chicken six times a day. That's all. No fish and no rice."

Koyna's accent classes

Mitra is taking American accent classes. "My coach Jeff comes over. You can't do films here without an American accent because they don't dub. I train for three hours everyday -- in readings, voice recordings and body language. When you speak in a different tone, your body language changes too.

Jeff gives me lines and makes me sit and do them. Then makes me walk and do the same scene. He makes me stand in one place and do it."