Sonali Kulkarni to act with Omar Sharif!

She can barely contain her excitement. "I am doing a film with Omar Sharif," she beams. This will probably be the high point of Sonali Kulkarni's career — a film with the legendary actor best known for his roles in 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Mackenna's Gold'. "I am really looking forward to it."

For the last one and half years Sonali has been in the throes of signing this Italian film. "I went through a screen test and a photo-session and then a final audition," she recalls.

Directed by Lamberto Lambertini, the film's title would loosely translate in English to 'Fire and Flames'. "It's based on a true story," explains Sonali. "I play an Italian girl, a fisherman's daughter living on an island. A prince comes and falls in love with her." Sharif plays the prince's grandfather. "My Italian costar is outstanding," she says and then grins as she tries to recollect his name. "I only wish I could pronounce his name."

What Sonali is quick to point out is that she isn't shifting bag and baggage to Italy. "I have enough work in Mumbai," she says. The actress, whose brush with Bollywood includes 'Mission Kashmir' and 'Dil Chahta Hai', says she has her hands full with films and stage plays. "I got too caught up in doing festival films to sign more Bollywood ones. But there was never any insecurity about doing commercial cinema. In fact, my song in 'Dil Chahta Hai' was so popular that I've performed it at several stage shows."

Incidentally, she's also part of Gurinder Chadha's 'Bride and Prejudice'.

For now, however, Sonali is brushing up her Italian. "I will be learning to speak the language." And considering it's an Italian film, she is also gearing up for the socalled hot scenes. "Oh, there definitely are a lot of hot love scenes in the film," she says, with a laugh. "But I don't know what their treatment will be."