Kristina Akheeva to debut in Tollywood

Kristina Akheeva to debut in Tollywood

Kristina Akheeva,who was last seen in Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, in which she teamed up with Sunny Deol, is all set to make her debut in Tollywood in Aadi-Erica starrer Gaalipatam. "The strangest thing I have heard about myself is that I have done an item number in the NTR Jr-starrer Baadshah. It's not just people in the industry, but even some of my closest friends who've got confused," she laughs, adding, "Gaalipatam is my debut film in Telugu and I have just started shooting for it. I must add that I have grown fond of Hyderabad. It's a lot better in terms of cleanliness than most other cities."

Born and brought up in Russia, her family moved to Australia when she was seven years old and in 2008, she enrolled in an acting school in Melbourne; however, she dabbled in modelling before bagging acting offers. "Acting has been my dream; but I couldn't let go opportunities in modelling. It gave me a chance to travel around the world. And then, when I was in India on an assignment, I was approached for Yamla Pagla Deewana 2," she recalls.

The transition from modelling to acting, that too in Hindi, has been anything but smooth. "It's quite difficult to act in a foreign language, no matter how well trained you are.We struggle all the time because we are never quite sure about what we are doing and on top of that,we have to focus on getting the dialogues right. But then, the fact that I am able to do this is, in a way, an achievement for me." Talking about travelling, Kristina reveals, "It's been my passion for a long time. There's so much to see and do in India. In the past few years, I have visited a lot of ashrams since I am into meditation."