If anyone doubted Urmila Matondkar's star power just because she hasn't been seen in a film for over a year -- her last release was the laudable "Ek Hasina Thi" - they should have seen the crowd response in Varanasi.

She was in the Uttar Pradesh temple town to shoot for Pankaj Parasher's film, aptly titled "Varanasi". And Urmila was mobbed so much that even she was surprised by the adulation.

"I've been to non-metropolitan towns for shooting. But nowhere have I witnessed such a mass of fans. Wherever I went there were people flocking for attention. It was amazing!"

Urmila isn't the first star to shoot in Varanasi in recent times. Abhishek Bachchan shot at the riverside city for a few days for Goldie Behl's "Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai". More recently, Aishwarya Rai was down at the Ganges ghats for Rituparno Ghosh's literary adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's "Chokher Bali".

However, not all film units have found the going smooth in Varanasi. Some years ago, Deepa Mehta and her unit of "Water", starring Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das, had to return from the holy city without a single shot when news spread that the script allegedly belittled the city and its culture.

The director had to finally shoot the film in Colombo.

Urmila's sojourn in Varanasi has involved a great deal of riverside spiritualism. She's all praise for the people of the city.

The rapidly evolving actress has just wrapped up a thriller for the production house I Dreams called "Naina" which she shot in London.

"From London to Varanasi is quite a long way. But it's a journey worth taking. There's so much to learn from the cultural differences among people all over. I'm lucky to have travelled to many parts of the world for my shootings. I think an actor needs to broaden her perspective constantly."

Urmila returns to Varanasi in March for another spell of shooting. "This time I'll be pitched against a formidable cast of actors, including Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia and Raj Babbar. I love the idea of being part of an interesting ensemble cast such as this where every character creates a space and distance." The last time she worked with Naseeruddin Shah was in Shekhar Kapur's "Masoom" when she was just a child. "How time flies! In 2003, I got to work again after 'Masoom' with Shabanaji in 'Tehzeeb'. We became really good friends. Now it's Naseer Uncle. Just goes to prove my point, cinema is now a small world, in terms of both time and space."

Interestingly, Urmila's romantic lead in her two new films are relatively new faces -- Anuj Sawhney in "Naina" and Ashmit Patel in "Varanasi".

"To me it has never been important who my co-star is. The script is always my main consideration. In 'Varanasi' the script is a superstar," she says, happy about her popular awards nominations for "Ek Hasina Thi".