Chennai, Aug 25 (IANS): South African model-turned-actress Gabriella Demetriades, who was last seen in Hindi film "Sonali Cable", is excited about making her southern debut with a yet-untitled Tamil-Telugu bilingual with actor Akkineni Nagarjuna.

In the film, which also stars Karthi and Tamannaah Bhatia in important roles, Gabriella is paired with Nagarjuna.

"It's a dream start for my career. I consider myself extremely lucky to be working with Nagarjuna so early on in my career. I play a wonderful role but I can't divulge much information about it now," Gabriella told IANS.

She also said she learnt a lot from the "Siva" star who plays a quadriplegic millionaire in the film, which is the official remake of French drama "The Intouchables".

Talking about how she landed the role, the actress said: "Director Vamsi had seen my audition tape for another film. He liked what he saw and met me. Five months later, I bagged the project".

She thoroughly enjoyed rubbing shoulders with her co-stars.

"Tamannaah is a highly talented co-star. She's gorgeous and very friendly. Karthi, on the other hand, is a lovely human being. Both took the effort to make me feel comfortable on sets. It was so nice of them to do so," she said.

Besides modeling, Gabriella enjoys designing.

"Although I enjoy doing both but lately I prefer designing. I feel as a model I've reached a point where I need to cross over and do something even more creative," she added.

She's open to star in films made in other languages as well.

"I understand Hindi quite well. I'm leaning to speak the language now. I'll soon start learning Telugu too," she said.

Karthi plays Nagarjuna's caretaker in the film, which is being produced by PVP Cinema.