Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai: Esha Deol's character of a loud, crass and talkative Tamilian cafe owner in producer Kumar Mangat's comedy "One Two Three" was never meant to be region-specific initially.

Ashwini Dheer, the talented sitcom director of "Office Office", has helmed the film and was so impressed with her Tamil lingo that he gave her character a makeover.

"When Ashwini heard me chattering away in Tamil with my mother, who had come to visit me in Pondicherry, he loved the intonations and loud-and-soft dips and curves in our language," said Esha, who earned rave reviews for her performance in "Ankahee".

She is delighted by her side-splitting lingo opportunity. "The Tamil in One Two Three was a cakewalk. They loved my aiyyos and appas so much that they ve decided to use them as a voiceover in the promos," Esha said.

After having shot her first comedy in Pondicherry, she is still laughing all the way to the brink. "It's my first attempt at comedy. Though I have been a part of comedy films like 'No Entry' , I have never done the funny stuff. It was great fun going over the top, specially the portions where I had to speak my mother tongue." Esha has spoken Tamil on screen earlier.

"That's right. In the Tamil version of Mani Ratnam's Yuva , but that was a different style of Tamil spoken by the Iyer community - different from what we speak at home which is the Iyenger Tamil.

So that was tough." With no more projects in hand, Esha is currently enjoying an ideal holiday. "I have no assignments on hand after One Two Three and I am happy to wait for the right offers."