Dame Judi Dench arrives for the world premiere of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, in London, on Tuesday. (AP)

London, Feb. 8: India does not have too many friends in Britain these days, having decided to buy the French Dassault Rafale rather the UK-backed Eurofighter Typhoon, but Dame Judi Dench has turned out to be a notable exception.

Speaking last night at the premiere in London of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which was filmed in Rajasthan, the 77-year-old actress, one of the most highly regarded, in London as well as in LA, disclosed she had enjoyed a “love affair with India”.

“I can’t wait to go back,” she said, outside the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair which was suitably decked out with tropical looking flowers to bring a touch of the sub-continent during one of the coldest spells of the winter.

Dench is now known throughout the world as “M”, head of the intelligence wing in the Ian Fleming movies who has to keep stroppy “007” James Bond in line.

She was cast as “M” in GoldenEye (1995), a role she has played in every James Bond film since then.

There cannot be too much room on her mantelpiece — her awards include 10 BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards for her stage work, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress as Elizabeth I in the film Shakespeare in Love), and a Tony Award. In June 2011, she received a fellowship from the British Film Institute.

But in the film shot in Jaipur and Udaipur and directed by John Madden, she plays a widowed pensioner who decides it would be rather fun to spend her retirement in sunny India. She arrives with a group of British pensioners to discover the hotel isn’t quite up to the standard that was promised but what she subsequently experiences is “India” in all its manifestations.

Last night she was joined on the red carpet by co-stars Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel and Celia Imrie, who wore what she thought was a colourful sari.

“I wouldn’t call it a culture shock,” she said, describing her experience in India. “It was like a love affair for me with India. Before it, although I had family who had been out to India, I really didn’t have a great desire to go and then it came up and within a day or two days I was not just bewitched by it, but I was completely addicted to it.”

She added: “I can’t wait to go back and I hope that what comes out of this film is how incredible it is and how beautiful the people were. It really has been one of my most amazing experiences in my life, to have them all in this package deal has been amazing.”

But despite playing a person who has retired, Dench said she had no intention of leaving acting.

“No, I don’t want to retire and I don’t like the word ‘old’ either,” she remarked crossly. “I just think you ought to go on if you’ve got the energy, if you have the energy anything is possible I think if you give up, then nothing presents itself to you any more.” She refused to be drawn on the next Bond film Skyfall, in which she again plays “M”.

When asked if she could divulge any details, she replied: “No, of course I can’t tell you. I would be fired tomorrow morning.”

Bill Nighy also said he had a great time making the movie and joked about filming a scene in which he gives Dench a hair-raising motorbike ride.

“'I had to ride a motorcycle for the first time and I had to have Judi Dench on the back, sitting side saddle and I used to wake up every morning thinking – don’t kill Judi Dench, because if you kill Judi Dench you can’t go home any more,” he joked.

“I mean if you killed the Queen you could probably sneak back into the country, but kill Judi Dench and it’s over and I did 16 takes through the streets of Jaipur and it’s quite hard when they sit side saddle but she pretended to be OK about it – she’s a star,” he said.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opens in cinemas across the UK on February 24.