When Antonia Bernath was first introduced to Indian cinema through late-night cable TV in Britain, it never crossed her mind that she'd make her film debut in one of its colourful composites.
But when auditions were held in London early last year by Subash Ghai, Mumbai's premier producer/director, the 24-year-old went along out of curiosity - and beat 190 hopefuls to star in Kisna, the year's biggest Indian musical.
'Auditions back home were just like any other,' she says on the phone as she makes her way to the premiere of the film through Mumbai's chaotic traffic. 'The waiting and meeting loads of people and then sitting down with Mr Ghai. The prospect of working in India was very exciting. I'd recommend it to anyone. You'll never do anything like it in your life.'
The film is set during the British Raj of the 1930s. Bernath stars as the daughter of a ruthless English aristocrat who falls in love with a simple Indian mountain boy, Kisna, after he saves her from a mob.
Following on from notable appearances in a host of BBC TV series (Holby City, The Afternoon Play), Bernath found the subtle nuances and inertia of western dramas diametrically opposite to the suspended reality of Bollywood. Breaking into a dance moments after locking eyes with the leading man, for example, would never have happened when she was shooting Monarch of the Glen.
'Yes, the acting is very theatrical in India - nothing like the work I had done in the past,' she says. 'And the dances were just gorgeous. I had such a brilliant time rehearsing and just watching my lovely co-star Isha dance. I've had no training as a dancer, unlike her, and I would just gape. I had done a little dancing in the past but not on this scale.'
Bernath crammed for Bollywood before she landed in Mumbai early last year, with daily doses of Indian cinema: Lagaan, Taal, Devdas, Monsoon Wedding and even Bend it Like Beckham, which is essentially a British film.