By Subhash K Jha

In her first film-production Ishq In Paris which starts shooting in a couple of months in--you guessed it!—Paris, Preity Zinta plays a half-Indian half-French girl who falls in love in the most expensive city in the world.

For her part of the part-French mademoiselle Preity is now busy learning up the French language and speaking it like a true-blue French woman. Apparently the actress knew the rudiments of the language, but is now taking serious French lessons to play the part convincingly.

Says director Prem Soni, "From the start we were very sure that Preity would get the French absolutely right with the correct accent and pronunciation. We did not want to dub her French dialogues.

By the time we start shooting I am dead sure Preity will know as much French as any native and speak the language fluently enough to pass off as a Frenchwoman. "

Prem Soni thinks there's something distinctly French about Preity's looks. "So many people have commented in how French she looks. I couldn't have cast anyone else in the role. "

Incidentally Paris is the most expensive city in the world to shoot in. In fact Sanjay Gadhvi had to shelve his Katrina Kaif-Imran Khan romance 7 Days In Paris due to the costs involved.

"I'm aware of this. But for Ishq In Paris it was always Paris or nothing. I couldn't locate this love story anywhere else. I started writing the script two years ago. From the start I was sure it had to be Paris or nothing, " says the director who spent his formative years in Spain.

Ishq In Paris is an Indo-French production . Though the director doesn't want to reveal this, there will apparently be two different versions of the film. One for the Indian and the other for the international market.