I had 16 Burgers says Kunal Kapoor... contd.

The second thing about him is that he's got this incredible eye for detail. I don't think its humanly possible the sort of eye for detailing he has because he's sits on this little monitor and he's got his head shoved into the monitor and since its this monitor which is not of great quality it's a small little thing but he can notice one leaf falling which is 50 feet way and I fail to understand how that is possible because with a naked eye its not possible to see half the things he does. And I think the nicest thing about working with Dada as a director is that he approaches every scene rather the entire movie where he does not try to over awe you with the technicalities of cinema. He just tries to tell you a simple story which has a soul and he goes about it in a very honest and simple sort of way, almost an innocent childish way. There is a lot of emphasis laid on the relationships in the film. I don't think there are too many directors especially in today's day who have the ability to constantly tell a story with simplicity. I think Dada is one of the few people who can do that and I think that's what makes him such a good director. The ability to be simple and honest and be child like innocent about the story that he is telling you that I think is what makes Laaga Chunri Mein Daag-Journey of a woman special.

What was it like working with Konkona Sen Sharma?
Working with Konkana has two sides to it. One is that its great fun to work with her because she is very easy to work with. I loved working with her and she is a lot of fun to have around. She doesn't come with any excess baggage. She's just there to do her job and there is nothing more to that and I have an absolutely superb equation with her.I would love to do more movies with her. The dangerous part about working with Konkana is that you come to set and you get your scene and you have obviously rehearsed your scene at home and come and then I come to the set and rehearse it like some 15/20 times, I sit with the director and discuss what I am supposed to do and then Konkana walks into the set and says “what are we doing today" and then she will take a look at the scene and read it a couple of times and then she will go and faff around, read a book, listen to music and in the meanwhile I am rehearsing, talking to the director as to how I am supposed to approach the scene and what I am supposed to do and she walks into the set casually and she does the scene and she gets it right in the first take and she gives you the most magical shot. And she walks back and goes and listens to her music and you are left there wondering what did I do wrong in life not to deserve that sort of genetic quality where you just saunter on to the set and you read the scene once and you just get it wrong. So it can get very demoralizing as a co-actor to work with her but I have sort of got used to her. The other good thing about Konkana is that she gets really good food from home. It's always a pleasure working with her.

How was the experience of shooting with an entire Bengali cast and crew?
It made me feel like a Punjabi shooting a film in Calcutta. It was like shooting for a Bengali film in Calcutta because you walk into the set the actress, director, set designer all are Bengali and they all talk in Bengali. So after a point you start feeling that they are making fun of you because everybody is on their own trip. Its almost like being in an alien land. Its like a Maharashtrian doing a Telugu film or like a Punjabi doing a Bengali film but again the very good part of working in a Bengali set up is that you get damn good food. So I think that was the compensation for having everybody being Bengali on the set. I am not complaining. I am ready for yet another Bengali film.

What was it like working with Rani Mukherji?
Rani I am going to be very grateful to. Firstly, I will remember this movie forever because it's the first time that I have done a Bollywood Hindi movie song which involves dancing and singing and I was petrified because I not only have two left feet but have four left feet. I not only crush my co-star's toes but I crush my own toes while dancing so I am really bad at it and Rani is exceptional. I think after Madhuri Dixit if there is anybody that can really dance and hold your attention, its Rani and she was kind enough to help me while this song was going on and I think I have managed fairly well with her help because I crushed Konkana's toes only once throughout the song. It was really nice of her. She helped me through a lot of steps.

What was like working with Jaya Bachchan?
For me Jaya Bachchan is very special because I have been a very big fan of hers for a really long time. And to share screen space with her obviously is very special. The nicest thing about working with Jayaji is that she gets really exceptional food and she gets food enough for 10 people and she fed us really well. Those days of shooting with Jayaji were fantastic because you really look forward to your lunch. As soon as you hear lunch everybody is in her room and she would have this huge spread which was well laid and its fantastic working with her.

What was it like working with Abhishek?
Abhishek I have known for really really long but this is the first time I have worked with him He is completely insane. He is out of control, mad and lots of fun, always up to mischief and pranks and the things that he does exceptionally well which I am really grateful to him for is that I was really nervous doing this song but Abhishek makes the environment on the sets so light hearted and so much fun to be around that after a point I actually started enjoying doing the song. It was after the song was over that I realized it was done only because he was around. He just comes to the set and has so much fun he doesn't look at work as stress or pressure and because he is having fun and doing such a good job, it's infectious and it eventually takes over the entire unit. I am glad that the first song that I did was with Abhishek because doing it with him just became lots of fun.

What was your shooting experience like in Switzerland?
The thing with Switzerland is that you grow up co-relating Yash Raj and Switzerland and it all becomes a legend in your head because you look at Switzerland and you think of Yash Raj and you think of all those fabulous movies which have been shot there. You think of all those big actors who have been a part of the dancing on the mountains and singing on the streets of Switzerland. So I think I am very fortunate that in my lifetime I have got to be a part of the legend and if nothing else I can look back and say I was part of a Yash Raj film which was shot in Switzerland and I was there in it.

Which is your favourite outfit in the film?
Well lots of those outfits I wear off screen because some of the clothes that I have worn in the film are a part of my own wardrobe. Vivaan's character is one which doesn't care about what he wears, how he wears it and whether it's coordinated or not and more often it's messy and laid back. So, most of the clothes that Vivaan wears are mine.

Any one memorable incident during the shooting of the film that comes to mind?
Here was this song which we were shooting that had me and Konkana in it and Dada was in a panicky mood. The scene had me and Konkana in the boat and dada in the other boat in front of us with his camera set up there and the guy who was riding our boat was Italian. He couldn't speak in English and Dada kept trying to speak to him in English, Hindi, Bengali everything that he could get out of himself. And it obviously didn't have any effect and in the meanwhile there was a translator in between so Dada was screaming at him in Hindi and Bengali and on the other hand the translator was trying to communicate the same to the boat rider and he was panicking as well. So, there were moments when Dada was saying come on and the boat rider is trying to get the boat in control because the boat in front was leaving these waves so our boat was kind of unsteady and he went and banged the boat in front. It was a lot of chaos and madness happening at the same time with the translator trying to translate to the Italian boat rider and Dada trying to explain things with me and Konkana nearly falling out of the boat.