MUMBAI: Geraldine Chaplin, daughter of the world famous comedian Sir Charles Chaplin, is here to present the Filmfare Swiss award to Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan at the gala Filmfare awards tonight.

           Geraldine looked excited as she narrated her experience when she first met Shah Rukh. "At Stockholm's Palace Hotel suddenly, a gorgeous, beautiful man walked in and there was a buzz in the lobby. We discovered he was an Indian movie star named Shah Rukh Khan. I wondered whether I should introduce myself to him. He sure must have heard of my father Charlie Chaplin, I thought", Geraldine said with a broad grin.

           Geraldine made her debut in her father's film 'Limelight' in 1952 as a dancer. She also played a small role in her father's last film, 'Countess from Hong Kong' in 1964. But her first major adult role came in 1965 when she played Omar Shariff's wife, Tonya, in 'Doctor Zhivago'. While she knows very little about Indian films other than Raj Kapoor's, she sounded excited about Indian/Hindi movies and has often asked her friend and film-maker Ismail Merchant to "bring her to India". "Ismail Merchant is my friend and I always tell him "Bring me to India , Bring me to India,'" she stated.

          Bearing more than a passing physical resemblance to her famous father, graceful and versatile Geraldine Chaplin is an internationally respected actress. The eldest daughter from Charles Chaplin's marriage to Oona O'Neill, daughter of famed playwright Eugene O'Neill, she spent her first eight years in Hollywood, but then moved with her family to Switzerland when her father was persecuted by the US Government for his political beliefs.

           At the press conference in Mumbai on Friday, Geraldine seemed a little perturbed while she spoke about the Americans and particularly Hollywood. "The Americans behaved awfully, they accused him (Charlie Chaplin) of being a communist. Values are better in Switzerland. Not the United States but Hollywood particularly is artificial with a lot of pitfalls," she remarked. Geraldine's favourite Chaplin films include 'City Lights' and 'The Kid', but she admits to being floored recently by a viewing of 'The Great Dictator' on the big screen.

           According to her, the film still makes sense and she grimly states that she wishes her father was alive and had made the same kind of film on Bush! "American politics", according to her, "is most horrendous, it's mindboggling. I wish my father was around today so that he would do a film like 'The Great Dictator' on Hitler. I wish he'd do same sort of film on Bush".

           The Switzerland-based British actress was in India in the 70's for a short while and has always felt a strong urge to return. As the movement of cross-over films between India and Britain (the latest being Gurinder Chaddha's 'Bend It Like Beckham' and Meera Syal's 'Anita and Me') gears momentum, one only hopes to witness the presence of Chaplin's accomplished daughter recreating her magic in Bollywood.