by: Subhash K Jha

Seldom has this inherently free-spirited diva sounded happier. Her tinkling laughter rings loud and clear over the phone line from Slovakia where she's now shooting for the last lap of her first bona- fide international project The Last Legion.

Could her asli glee have something to do with her name being cleared in the murky tape controversy back home?

"Ha!" she interjects instantly. "I will only say one thing to this. I've always had faith in God. He always knows the truth. I trust completely in His judgement."

No. The pleasure is entirely to do with the way the shooting of The Last Legion has gone.

"We've completed a truly exhausting and exhilarating schedule in Tunisia. And now we've moved to Slovakia. You know, it was warm in Tunisia.... actually very hot. And now right after that, it's freezing cold in Tunisia. I guess I'm trapped in an aura of extremities," she laughs loudly.

Is it worthwhile to brave the vagaries of the weather in strange lands?

"Of course it is! It's all so strange and new and exciting. And yet so familiar. I've always worked with units where I'm totally at home. Even away from home I'm lucky to feel so relaxed."

Aishwarya has worked with foreign units before, mainly Gurinder Chaddha's Bride & Prejudice and Chadha's husband's Mistress Of Spices where the entire unit was composed of foreigners. But The Last Legion is her first assignment outside India where she doesn't play an Indian character.

"True. But you know me... I don't differentiate from one unit to another... or between one language and another. For me working with Rituparno Ghosh in Bengali was as important as doing an English-language film. Both demand and get an equal amount of my attention."

She's gung-ho about her co-stars Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley. "They're wonderful actors and terrific friends. I'm having the time of my life. But you know what? I'm homesick. I'm looking forward to returning home when I start work on Umrao Jaan."

From the sword wielding medieval European warrior in The Last Legion to the Mughalesque courtesan in Umrao Jaan is quite a leap.

"Oh, I enjoy taking leaps into the unknown," Ash laughs.

Ash's Current Assignments:

Jagmohan Mundhra's Provoked
Paul Berges' The Mistress Of Spices
Doug Lefler's The Last Legion
J.P. Dutta's Umrao Jaan
Sanjay Gadhvi's Dhoom 2
Ashutosh Gowariker's Jodha-Akbar
Raj Kumar Santoshi's Saamna