Elena stepped up acting to match Randeep

Newcomer Elena Kazan says her co-star Randeep Hooda's acting spirit and energy boosted her to deliver her best in the forthcoming thriller "Johnday".

In the film, directed by Ahishor Solomon, Elena plays a depressed Iranian girl, who takes to alcohol, while Randeep will be seen in a cold and violent character.

"Randeep is very young, energetic and an intense actor...(his performance) forces you to step-up your own intensity to match in a scene, and I think we have created some interesting chemistry," Elena said here in an interview.

The Moscow-born Elena made her Bollywood debut with Saif Ali Khan's home production venture "Agent Vinod". "Johnday" is her second Hindi project.

She says her journey has been "very surprising".

"I never thought I would ever work in films. So all this happened suddenly," Elena said.

"I was working in Kolkata. There, I visited an Australian movie set, where I was offered a Bengali movie. Then I thought why shouldn't try for Hindi films?" Elena recalled.

"So I quit my job and moved to Mumbai and started giving auditions," said the actress, who is well-versed in Russian, French, German, English, Spanish, Bengali and Hindi.

"Johnday" features Naseeruddin Shah in the title role. Besides, it also features Shernaz Patel. It hits the screens Sep 13.