Celina said: "I was telling my mother the other day that if I was going to settle down anywhere in the world besides India, it's going to be Cape Town."
But she coyly avoided a question of whether she would consider a South African beau.
The beauty queen-turned-actress would probably have been able to stop the enemy without them firing a single shot if they just took one look at her - that is, of course, if she had achieved her initial aim of joining the Indian Army like her brigadier father and special forces commando brother.
But fate decided otherwise, and Celina is now in South Africa for her sixth visit in as many years to shoot for Suneel Darshan's film. Like Darshan, she has a soft spot for the country because she shot the first scene for her very first film, "Khel", here.
"Somehow South Africa has been really lucky for me and I am in love with this country."
Unlike many other stars who would avoid making unprompted statements about a city being the best in the world, Celina did not just make politically correct statements to avoid offending others.
"Let me tell you, I was recently on a world tour performing all over the world and I stayed in various hotels with all sorts of people in a span of one month. If it comes to giving points for courtesy and hospitality, I would give 98.9 percent of my points to Johannesburg and its people, after India of course."
Celina said her role in "Shakalaka Boom Boom" is vibrant and reflects the real life of her long-time friend Aritha, who died two years ago in a car accident and to whom Celina is dedicating the film.
Besides "Shakalaka Boom Boom", Celina will soon be seen on screen in two more films - "Apna Sapna Money Money" and "Red".
And if films don't work out too well, Celina would like to work as an international cultural ambassador, perhaps for a United Nations agency one day.