Asin - Abhishek's new target?

Besides the Southern lovelies like Vyjayantimala, Jayapradha, Hema Malini, Rekha, Sridevi, Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai who are among Bollywood's biggest names, we have a new Southie connection - in the form of another lovely lass.

It's no secret that the Malayalee actress Asin Thottumkal has caught the attention of Junior Bachchan, who's been trying his Bachchanlian best to get her to co-star with him. So he cajoles ace director Maniratnam into popping her onto the cast of Guru, Ratnam's current production. But the fiesty Asin, who's been a model, businesswoman and a host of other multi-talents before cinedom, refused to play second fiddle to Aishwarya Rai (Vidya Balan's doing that now). Way to go, girl! But one also wonders if she shoved the rejection up Jr. B's ass, 'cos when a big male star recommends an up-and-coming actress for a role, his motives are likely to be way more than furthering her career.

Anyway, news is that Asin is doing Kamalhassan's next venture - Dasavatharam (yep, that's 'Dus Avatar') - sharing screen space with none other than sex bomb Mallika Sherawat. Apparently, she's taken on a role that top actresses like Meera Jasmine, Trisha, Vidya Balan and Sameera Reddy turned down. Hopefully, the lusty Kamal will keep his attention on the Kissing Queen and leave Asin (sinless?) alone. Well, who knows...

Meanwhile, you can decide who's the better of the two above - Asin or Mallika?