Want to work with Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan: Turkish star Hande Ercel

Mumbai: Turkish TV star Hande Ercel, currently on her maiden visit to India, says she has always been fascinated with everything Indian and would like to work with Bollywood superstars Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan in future.

Ercel, who gained international recognition for shows such as “Ask Laftan Anlamaz”, “Gunesin Kizlari”, and “Sen Cal Kapimi”, is set to attend a session at the FICCI Frames on Thursday.

A "new door is opening" for her with the participation at the event, said the 30-year-old actor.

"I've been interested in learning about (different) cultures since I was young. I was already interested in this (Indian) culture and I wanted to see India. I told one of my friends that I want to go to India... I like how people follow the culture here... I wanted to wear a traditional sari. But, I don’t have much time here.

"I would like to work with Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, and Sidharth Malhotra. This is the right time for me to be here. A new door is opening for me to do something here," Ercel told PTI in an interview here.

The actor believes she was “destined” to visit India one day.

"My agent asked me if I would like to go to India for FICCI Frames this year. I instantly said yes as I was thinking of coming here. I feel this is a universal plan,” she said through an interpreter.

Owing to her packed schedule and Mumbai's traffic snarls, Ercel said she wouldn't be able to explore the city.

"I want to see the Ganesha temple (Siddhivinayak), we have thought of going to the ISKCON temple. I love these kinds of things. (But) I know about the traffic issues here," she said, adding that she also wants to visit the Taj Mahal in Agra.

Speaking about Hindi movies, Ercel said some of her all-time favourite films are “PK” and “3 Idiots” and she also likes actors Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Dev Patel.

“Among the directors I like, Sanjay (Leela Bhansali), he was there at Cannes. We don’t have Hindi movies releasing theatrically (in Turkey), so I saw them all online," she said.

At FICCI Frames, the actor will be part of the session ‘From Bollywood to Turkish Drama: Acting across Borders’ along with Ayushmann Khurrana.

She is aware of Khurrana’s work as a singer and said she loves the song "Mere Liye Tum Kaafi Ho" from his 2020 film “Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan”.

Ercel, who has close to 32 million followers on Instagram, said it’s encouraging to see actors working across industries.

“More people should come together in front of and behind the screen, and start making (films as) cultural projects. This is an amazing exchange through art. The emotions, the language of love are universal.

“For me, it is about discovering myself. It is about adding new experiences. I enjoy learning. This is the reason why I would love to come here and try in (Hindi movies)” she added.

Ercel is happy to have a fan following in India.

“It was early in my career, where I attained popularity through ‘Gunesin Kizlari’, this was 10 years ago. That was the beginning but with ‘Ask Laftan Anlamaz’ I became big in this region. It feels good,” she said.

The actor said women in Turkish shows have strong on-screen representation, but it's difficult to raise funds for female-led projects even in her native country.

“I’ve been part of screenplays where women are in the lead but those who invest and pick the stories, they didn’t want it. Now, they are choosing projects like that. Times are changing, like my recent project, ‘Bambaşka Biri’, in which my role of Leyla Gediz is at the forefront. I played a female prosecutor, she was perfect, tough, genre wise this is good.

"In Turkish projects, we always have a balance between the roles of men and women. We have lead men and women, but we never have only men in the lead. Mostly, the stories have men as the heroes but the story is (told) through the women,” Ercel added.