South Indian actress Lakshmi Rai, who has starred opposite Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty, has finally realised her dream of entering Bollywood by signing a film opposite singer-actor Himesh Reshammiya.

Lakshmi plays the role of a Punjabi girl in the film 'Hey Gujju', directed by Satish Kaushik. And she has already shot two songs for the film.

As a young girl in Belgaum, Karnataka, Lakshmi always dreamt of working in a Hindi film, and she says her dream is finally coming true.

'I had always dreamed (of working in Bollywood). Thanks to the blessings of god and my parents, my progress in films has been very fast. I have been extremely busy ever since I started working for my first debut film ('Karka Kasadara') in Tamil.'

She added: 'And bagging this Hindi film is the best thing that has happened in my career. Since Himesh is the hero of the film, I'm sure the film will be well publicised and will be a huge project. I was able to bag this project only because I look like a Punjabi, ' said a delighted Lakshmi.

The young actress made her foray into Kannada films with 'Snehaanaa Preethinaa' opposite Darshan. Her second Kannada film 'Minchina Ota' with Vijaya Raghavendra and his brother Murali, has evoked mixed response.

Lakshmi has also made her presence felt in Malayalam cinema opposite top stars Mohanlal in 'Rock n Roll', and Mammootty in 'Annan Thampi'.

But the actress maintains that despite stepping into Bollywood, she would continue to act in films down south.

'Signing a Hindi film does not mean that I will not be part of south Indian films. I am looking forward to the release of my two Tamil films 'Dhaam Dhoom' in which I am paired with Jeyam Ravi, and 'Muthirai' with Nithin Sathya and Daniel Balaji. I have decided to take up very good projects in future as well, ' said Lakshmi.