Like the flower, "Marigold" the movie blooms with bright colors, bold music and breathtaking vistas. An independent film made it India with one of the country's biggest stars, Salman Khan, it's a big-time Bollywood production that left its American lead, "Heroes" star Ali Larter, in utter amazement.

"I didn't know anything about Bollywood before I did the movie, but (writer-director) Willard Carroll sat down and gave me an education on it," Larter recalled in a recent @ The Movies interview for the film, new on DVD (Echo Bridge Home Entertainment) this week.

"We watched a bunch of Salman Khan's movies and what was incredible to me was they're just about joy. They're about sheer entertainment," Larter said. "To the amount of people who watch Bollywood movies, it allows them to dream in life. They dream of better places, foods and colors. It just excites your senses in so many ways. There's something so joyous about them."

Larter stars as Marigold Lexton, a witchy, high-maintenance American actress on the skids who tramples over everybody despite her fading stardom. But a rude awakening hits Marigold hard when she lands in India to shoot her latest film, only to learn that the job isn't there because the financing fell through.

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Stranded in Mumbai with her one-way ticket and no return to America in sight, Marigold lands a small role in a Bollywood production, where she meets Prem (Khan), the film's dance instructor who changes her attitude -- and life -- forever.

"Marigold" was filmed three years ago, before Larter was cast as Niki Sanders (among other characters) in NBC's "Heroes." She said the gig in the film came at a crucial time, since it had been awhile since her success in "Legally Blonde," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and the "Final Destination" movies.

"It came at a time when I wasn't working that much -- it meant so much for Willard Carroll to put me as a lead in his movie," Larter said.

And better yet, the film required her to travel to an exotic destination.

"To travel to India and have a chance to live there was such of an extraordinary thing. It's something I'll never forget for the rest of my life," Larter said. "It will always go down as one of those magical times for me. I don't watch most of what I do, but I ended up watching 'Marigold' because it makes me smile."

As Larter discovered, filming "Marigold" in India was hardly a working vacation. Filled with elaborate musical numbers, Larter was required to not only act, but sometimes sing the part.

"I've never got to be in a big comedy or musical before, until I got the chance to do 'Marigold.' Suddenly I was on a soundstage and sang a song -- which was unbelievable because they made me sound so much better than I am," Larter said, laughing.

But that was only the half of it. Larter had to learn some fancy footwork, too.

"Dancing is such a big part of Bollywood movies, but not so much of Hollywood unless it's a genre movie that you're doing," Larter said. "One of the hardest things for me was to follow them and become a part of it. That's part of the fun of the movie, too. It's about a dreamy, fun experience."

The magical inspiration of "Marigold" must have sent good karma Larter's way, since she was cast in "Heroes" after doing the film. In fact, Larter said she's having the time of her life.

"It's an incredible job. I feel so lucky that I get to work on something where I'm constantly inspired," Larter enthused. "I've gotten to play so many different characters within the run of the show and it pushes me on different levels as an actress.

"One of my biggest fears in life is boredom and that's not going to happen on 'Heroes,'" Larter added with a laugh.

Larter hinted that the upcoming season of the show is going to be a real, for the lack of a better word, "power" trip.

"This year it's going to go back to the root of what Season 1 was where people discovered their powers," Larter said. "They're going to bring in a whole new list of villains and the stuff that made people love the show. It's going to be fast and fun and incredible."