Celina Jaitly at the Premiere of Love Has No Language, in Auckland

Violently ill and shivering with the cold at the premiere of her first international film, Love Has No Language, in Auckland on Nov 5, Celina Jaitley rubbed shoulders with the crème de la crème of New Zealand. And that too in the pouring rain.

"It was the grandest premiere I ever attended," gushes Celina. Days after the premiere she's in a daze."

800 Asians turned up to meet me besides the 325 formal invitees. We had the crème de la crème of New Zealand attending, including television film and sports personalities."

Prominent in the sports section of attendees was New Zeland's rugby star Monty Beetham who was quite taken up with Celina. Apparently, his eyes trailed our Celina across the premiere venue.

Laughs Celina, "I'm no stranger to male attention. Though I met Beetham only briefly, I believe he was quite taken up by what he called the Indian beauty. I was just floored by all the attention I got."

Hours before the premiere, Celina wasn't sure if she would be able to attend. "I was down with this acute tummy infection. I was doubling up with cramps and pain. I really thought I wouldn't be able to attend. But at the last minute, I squeezed into my Manish Malhotra gown and dragged myself to the red carpet. The effort was worth it."The movie got a standing ovation. "Not only that, people stood in the pouring rain for autographs and pictures. I tried to oblige everyone. The New Zealanders are extremely warm. As I shook hands with them, the freezing cold melted away. Never mind my gown shrank into a mini-skirt."

Celina cuts down all chances of a romance with her co-star. She describes her Love Has No Language co-star Ben Mitchell as scary and horrifying. "He scared the hell out of me with bugs and butterflies all the time. Believe it or not, I'm terrified of butterflies. And although the film is called Love Has No Language, I couldn't understand anything he said because of his Kiwi accent. Maybe because I wasn't really in love with him."