"I lose track of time, sleep.. while working" - Ash
By:
Subhash
K.
Jha,
IndiaFM
Monday,
November
06,
2006
Umrao
Jaan
takes
you
back
to
the
elegant
kotha
culture.
It
takes
an
Aishwarya
Rai's
elegance
to
recreate
that
culture.
That's
quite
a
compliment.
I
just
want
to
thank
my
directors
for
providing
me
opportunities
in
such
rare
genres.
It
doesn't
oft-come
in
these
times.
So
I
feel
good
about
it.
All
creative
people
are
hungry
for
such
experiences,
eager
to
come
away
enriched
from
doing
films
like
Devdas,
Raincoat,
Umrao
Jaan,
Dhoom
2
and
Guru.
I
guess
I'm
blessed.
Abhishek's
does
his
first
costume
drama...
Yes
Umrao
Jaan
is
his
first
costume
drama.
But
I've
done
another
beautiful
costume
drama
earlier
Devdas.
If
I
may
say
so,
I'm
equipped
to
go
back
to
that
era
of
elegant
dancing
and
old-world
culture
because
I'm
a
girl
very
rooted
to
Indian
culture.
I
mean,
the
sari
is
my
most
favourite
apparel
in
the
world.
I'm
teased
that
I
belong
to
some
other
era.
But
at
the
end
of
the
day
I
am
a
contemporary
woman
of
the
world.
It's
cinematic
experiences
such
as
Devdas,
Umrao
Jaan
and
Guru
that
give
me
the
privilege
of
going
back
to
another
era.
Please
explain.
You
know
we
communicate
mostly
in
English.
The
Hindi
we
speak
is
hybridized
.
Being
a
South
Indian,
people
like
me
and
Rekhaji
have
worked
very
hard
at
brushing
up
our
Hindi.
But
Urdu
which
is
such
a
beautiful
language,
is
totally
alien
to
me
and
to
most
of
us
in
Umrao
Jaan,
including
J.P.
Dutta.
We
were
all
tremendously
aided
by
JP
Saab's
father
O.P
Dutta
saab.
To
have
a
director
like
J.P
Dutta
who's
perceived
as
a
task
master,
was
a
blessing.
He's
known
to
be
a
tyrant
on
the
sets.
You
think
Sanjay
Bhansali
is
any
less
of
a
tyrant
on
the
sets?
Any
director
who's
passionate
about
his
work
will
be
perceived
as
a
tyrant.
Whatever
the
decibel
at
which
a
committed
director
instructs
his
actors,
he
wants
his
point
made
across.
It's
the
teacher-pupil
relationship.
There're
different
kinds
of
teachers
in
school.
I've
worked
with
all
kinds
of
directors
from
Sanjay
to
JP
Saab
to
Adi
Chopra
to
Subhash
Ghai.
They're
all
known
to
be
passionate
in
their
own
way
.
Why,
even
Karan
Johar
whom
I
haven't
worked
with,
is
known
to
fly
off
the
handle
on
the
sets.
And
don't
forget
Mani
Rathnam.
My
God!
He's
my
first
director
(in
Iruvar).
And
now
I've
worked
with
him
again
in
Guru.
Of
course
he's
known
to
lose
his
cool.
But
there's
a
story
about
how
J.P.Dutta
cut
your
costume
in
a
fit
of
rage.
Now
let's
not
make
a
mountain
out
of
a
molehill.
I
don't
get
rattled
by
the
passionate
declarations
and
discussions
on
the
sets.
Nothing
that
a
conversation
cannot
solve.
There
might
have
been
a
day
when
JP
got
rattled.
If
he
did
he
was
very
sweet
about
it
afterwards
.
When
you
know
it's
nothing
personal
,
the
director's
outburst
is
totally
understandable.
I'm
not
egoistic
about
these
things.
The
entire
teamon
Umrao
Jaan
or
Dhoom
2
and
Guru
are
committed
to
their
work.
And
I'm
as
passionate
about
my
work
as
the
director.
You've
known
me
very
closely.
You've
seen
how
I
lose
track
of
time
when
I
get
involved
with
a
film.
Sleep,
food
all
forgotten.
We
needed
to
not
just
work
on
our
Urdu
but
also
the
body
language
of
the
time.
Sometimes
I'd
want
to
go
subtle
while
JP
wanted
it
louder.
He
wanted
the
drama
of
the
times
to
shine
through
.
Sometimes
the
'Hai
Allah'
needed
more
punctuation
than
I
gave.
Abhishek
had
set
aside
during
shooting
when
all
of
us
would
just
crack
up.
Nothing
could
stop
it.
You're
uncomfortable
with
the
higher
notes.
That's
the
way
I
am
in
real
life.
You
won't
find
me
screaming
in
real
life
or
on
screen.
Of
course
I've
gone
through
a
spectrum
of
emotions
with
Sanjay
Bhansali.
Hum
Dil
De
Chuke
Sanam
and
Devdas
had
high
points
of
drama.
That's
where
you
mould
your
talents
to
every
genre.
What
about
the
fun
aspect
of
such
passionate
team
work?
Oh
yes!
I
must
tell
you
about
this
particular
hour
that
Abhishek
had
set
aside
during
shooting
when
all
of
us
would
just
crack
up.
Nothing
could
stop
it.
Even
JP
was
in
fits
of
laughter.
In
fact
he'd
look
at
the
watch
and
say,
'It's
going
to
happen
now,
right?
Nothing
can
stop
it
from
happening.'
And
then
OP
Saab
would
say,
'Children
are
at
it
again.
What
do
I
do?'
The
children
would
of
course
include
JP.
And
then
we'd
settle
down
to
work
again.
Did
you
enjoy
doing
the
Mujra
in
Umrao
Jaan?
You
know,
to
know
to
dance
is
one
thing.
But
to
get
the
finer
nuances
of
a
Mujra,
down
to
its
smothered
energy
and
expressions
of
restrained
poignancy,
is
very
very
difficult.
Vaibhavi
Merchant
and
I
got
together
after
Kajra
re.
She
knows
Kathak.
She
brought
the
classical
element
into
the
dances.
Along
with
her
choreography
there
was
a
huge
contribution
by
JP
Saab.
After
three
rehearsals
he'd
suddenly
bring
in
changes
and
I'd
be
like,
'Okaaay.'
The
Mujras
in
Umrao
Jaan
required
myriad
expressions
in
one
sweep.
JP
had
a
three-camera
set
up.
He
operated
one
of
them.
So
I
had
to
give
different
expressions
into
different
cameras.
By
far
this
was
the
most
challenging
film
for
its
dancing.
And
Abhishek?
He
was
the
veteran
of
the
unit,
having
worked
with
JP
twice
before.
Shabanaji,
me
we
were
all
the
babies.
Abhishek
thinks
Umrao
is
your
best
performance.
That's
very
generous
of
him.
Me?
I
can't
assess
myself.
There're
films
and
roles
that
I've
thoroughly
enjoyed.
And
you
know
which
ones
they
are.
Because
it
shows
in
my
work.
Umrao
Jaan
is
one
of
them.
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