Tamil actress Puvisha M., who has worked with Shah Rukh Khan in the forthcoming Hindi film "Chennai Express", says she learnt the art of being humble and simple from King Khan, who despite being a superstar never behaves like one.
"He may be a superstar but you never see him behaving like one because he is unbelievably friendly and down-to-earth. After working with him, I realised that despite being a superstar one can still choose to be simple. This is something I learnt from him and I will remember forever," Puvisha told IANS.
"I was told before I entered films that people change after they achieve fame, and I almost believed it until I met him Shah Rukh-ji, who proved that theory wrong. I also learnt from him that regardless of stardom, we can decide how we want to be," she added.
Puvisha, who made her cinematic debut in Bala Pazhanisaamy's critically acclaimed Tamil period-drama "Paradesi", was chosen for "Chennai Express" amongst 400 aspiring actors.
"I was least confident when I auditioned for 'Chennai Express' because there were nearly 400 like me who had come to bag the role of a typical south Indian girl," she said.
"I auditioned in typical south Indian attire, wearing a half sari and jasmine flowers on my head. (Director) Rohit Shetty was impressed with me. However, I only got a call after six months, by when, I had almost forgotten about the audition," said Puvisha, who plays a family member to actress Deepika Padukone's character in the film.
"Deepika and I are from the same family in the film. I play her uncle's daughter and I'm the one who is very close to her. It was so much fun shooting because almost 50 to 60 percent of the dialogues in the film are in Tamil and there are so many south Indian actors," she added.
Puvisha says SRK personally helped her overcome nervousness.
"In one of the scenes I'm supposed to hold his hand and almost hug him. I just couldn't do it because I was so nervous! But eventually when we shot, he held my hand and gave me the confidence to do the scene," she said.
A trained Bharatanatyam dancer for 20 years, Puvisha says she missed dancing in the film, but has no regrets whatsoever.
"I'm a trained dancer and I would've loved to shake a leg with Shah Rukh-ji, but unfortunately that didn't happen. But, I really didn't mind because I can always feel proud to have worked with a superstar," said Puvisha, who was born and raised in Malaysia.
Southern actress Priyamani was roped in for a special item number in the film, which is produced by Shah Rukh's Red Chillies Entertainment.
Also starring are Sathyaraj, Manorama, and Mohan Raman in important roles. "Chennai Express" releases Aug 8.