Salman Rushdie 'wooing Bollywood starlet Riya Sen'

London, July 14 (PTI) - Speculation is rife that India-born British novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has been wooing Bollywood actor Riya Sen whom he met at a nightclub in Mumbaiearlier this year.

The 61-year-old novelist has also invited her to New York where he has been spending much of his time after the end of his three-year marriage to actress and model Padma Lakshmilast year, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

According to the report, the pair have been exchanging emails on a regular basis since January when they met in India through a common friend, and the author is also "pursuing" the27-year-old starlet.

"We get on really well but we are just friends. I methim through a family friend. I have spoken to him a few times.

I think when you are Salman Rushdie, you must get bored with people who always want to talk to you about literature. We didnot talk about any of that," Sen was quoted as saying.

She has also confirmed that she was invited to New York but insisted: "No really, we are not an item." The controversial author of 'The Satanic Verses', who has been married four times, recently said that he did notthink that marriage "is necessary".

"It's strange, given that I've been married four times but I actually don't think marriage is necessary. Girls like it, especially if they've never been married before -- it is the dress. Girls want a wedding, they don't want a marriage,"he told a lifestyle magazine last month.

Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children' based loosely on India's independence, won him the prestigious 'Best of the Booker' title on Thursday. PTI MOT