Is Tena Desae the world's hottest maths geek

TV commercial queen Tena Desae tells us how she let down Judi Dench on the set of their new film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and why banking is her back-up career. Thanks to her starring role in the newly released, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, alongside British acting royalty - Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy to name but three - the 25-year-old is well on her way. What next? Global fame? If that doesn't happen it's not the end of the world. Tena is a closet geek who loves maths. If acting fails she'd be happy to juggle investment banking and tax advice at your local bank. Your new film, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, is only your third yet already you're mixing with huge international actors who have starred in blockbusters like Bond's Casino Royale and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. How was it? It's awesome isn't it? I feel it's such a blessing to work with these names so early in my career. Just to watch these guys do their thing was surreal. Even if I wasn't needed on set I'd stay and watch them do their scenes so I could make the most of the experience. Any stories you can share with us? There was this one scene I was sharing with Judi Dench and she had this huge paragraph of dialogue. While she was talking I got so absorbed in what she was saying that I forgot where I was. When she stopped she looked around and there was silence. I was wondering what was wrong, and then I remembered it was my line next; I forgot I was on a job and acting, she had sucked me into her words so well. But I felt so bad. I'd made Judi Dench do a retake because I had forgotten my lines! She was lovely about it though and told me not to worry. How was Dev Patel, who is one of the stars of the movie? Any budding romance? Dev is a brilliant entertainer and super energetic - you have to keep up with his energy or you feel boring. You can't have any serious conversations with him; he'd just get bored. He's the person to go to for fun. We're just friends. We keep in touch but I'm not going to tell you if we've exchanged mobile numbers. Any boyfriends? Have you even got time to go on any dates? I'm single right now. I'm all over the place so I have no time for a boyfriend. My friends moan I that speak to them every day one month and the next I don't speak to them for ages. What do you look for in a man? A man for me has to have a sense of humour, chivalry, he needs to be grounded and definitely no arrogance. I like him to be intelligent and most importantly loyal. You have to keep yourself looking good for your photo shoots, especially the bikini calendars. How do you keep in shape? I have to eat lots and do weight training to keep weight on because I am so petite and thin. I have to eat three eggs a day - I'm supposed to have more but I really can't - and I need to have banana milkshakes and glasses of milk as well as snacking all day. I'm not a foodie person so for me to eat that much is hard. To keep this body is hard work. I go to the gym every other day but I only do weights and no cardio. I did the India Kingfisher Airline calendar recently and before the shoot I did two weeks of abs exercises so that I could get a good defined stomach but I ended up losing 2kgs I'd spent two years trying to gain. I was 45kg around 2005 and when I did the calendar I was 49kgs but now I'm 47kgs and in need of some weight gain so I need to start munching again. Do you like your body? People like voluptuous bodies so it's hard. If thin worked then great, but people want curves so it's hard for me to keep up. I don't feel lucky. I look at some people and think they're lucky. I have to have huge meals every meal time and be very aware of what I eat. I seem to have the opposite problem to most people, don't I? How do you cope with naked scenes in films, especially the one in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? It's done very sensitively so I was OK with it. You don't realise I'm naked and it's a funny scene so a good distraction from my body. When it comes to deciding whether to go naked in a film I suppose it depends on the scene, the director and the script. If I'm comfortable and the reason is understandable then fine but I can always say no and I will say no if I don't feel it's right. Are there any actresses you admire? I love Helena Bonham Carter but I could never do what she does. I also admire Kate Winslet and Julia Roberts. In India I like Madhuri Dixit, Kajol and Karisma Kapoor. If acting failed you've said you'd be a banker. Is that really true? If my film career dried up tomorrow I'd definitely work in a bank. I love accounts and tax and investments. Even if my acting carries on I'd like to be an investment banker when I'm 50. I like acting 51 per cent and investment banking 49 per cent. That's just me! Acting is a tough industry. How do you think you will cope? I have a good family behind me. And I'm the sort of person who won't let stuff get me down too much. I'll make sure I'm always all right. I don't think there's any problem I can't deal with. From: Gulfnews