I was completely awed by Anushkaji: Diljit Dosanjh

Diljit Dosanjh discusses his start-struck meetings with Bollywood's leading ladies.

In a refreshing contrast to his fellow Punjabi imports in Bollywood, a soft-spoken Diljit Dosanjh makes no pretence of being a larger-than-life star but admits that he is still struggling to ace Hindi even as he inadvertently slips back into his mother tongue over a telephonic chat with Mirror. He's not looking to blaze a new trail in the Hindi film industry either since he's already a successful musicianactor and currently looking forward to his "already sold out" week-long UK tour next month.

While Diljit makes his Bollywood acting debut with Udta Punjab, he has recently been signed on by Anushka Sharma for her second production after NH10, the quaintly titled Phillauri. "I never expected to become an actor, let alone be a part of a Bollywood film. I was completely awed when I met Anushkaji that I simply kept staring at her. She is an ace producer and actress and I made it pretty evident that I'm a huge fan," he admits unabashedly.

The 32-year-old actor recalls his meeting with Anushka's co-producer brother, Karnesh, and writer-director, Anshai Lal, last December. "I was asked if I wanted to read or listen to the script. I was so happy when they read out the entire story to me instead of just my part. I never imagined Bollywood folks could be so lovely, they completely blew me away. The fullon drama implicit in the plot shook me to the core," he smiles, proceeding to admit that Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is his favourite Anushka film.

In Abhishek Chaubey's dark drugs drama, Udta Punjab, Diljit will be seen playing a tough cop, alongside Kareena Kapoor. "Kareena ma'am never said, 'Ab bas ho gaya, aur shoot nahi karna' or threw any nakhras on the sets. I was amazed by her professionalism, it made me want to work harder. I behaved like a starstruck fan with her too, recalling the fun I had watching Jab We Met," he gushes.

In his next Punjabi film, Ambarsariya, he romances ABCD actress Lauren Gottleib. Interestingly, all his films have been named after real places. Ambarsariya, which describes the spirit of Amritsar, is another name for the city of the Golden Temple. Phillauri is derived from small Punjab town, Phillaur. "It's like I didn't come here, Bollywood has come to my land," Diljit quips with a laugh, pointing out that even if he let some Punjabi slip in his Hindi dialogues, the audience would enjoy it since he plays a Punjabi.

He's also filming the sequel to his superhit film, Jatt & Juliet, and Sardaar Ji 2. Both the Punjabi films broke boxoffice records in the North, Canada and the UK. "It's nice to see that Bollywood is finally accepting a turbaned man. The reason why I was so scared to enter Hindi films earlier was because I had been warned that the audience doesn't think a Sardar is fashionable, but after Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar played sardars, looks like I definitely have a shot," he avers.

Phillauri, also featuring Anushka and Life of Pi actor Suraj Sharma, marks the directorial debut of Anshai. Earlier this month, the actress-filmmaker had revealed, "It's a unique premise. It took almost 100 years, a crazy Punjabi wedding and rank strangers to complete this love story, and that's the crux of the film."