Ever
since
she
made
her
debut
with
Parineeta,
Vidya
Balan
has
worked
with
many
a
veteran
filmmakers
like
Vidhu
Vinod
Chopra
(Eklavya
-
The
Royal
Guard),
Mani
Ratnam
(Guru),
Priyadarshan
(Bhool
Bhulaiyaa),
Raj
Kumar
Santoshi
(Halla
Bol)
and
Aziz
Mirza
(Kismat
Konnection).
Meanwhile,
she
has
also
worked
with
first
time
directors
like
Pradeep
Sarkar
(Parineeta)
and
Sajid
Khan
(Heyy
Babyy)
as
well
as
one
film
old
Raj
Kumar
Hirani
(Lagey
Raho
Munnabhai)
or
Nikhil
Advani
(Salaam
E
Ishq).
This
is
why,
when
she
interacted
with
someone
like
Balki
(who
only
has
a
Cheeni
Kum
behind
him),
what
sort
of
change
in
approach
did
she
see
in
them?
"The
best
part
about
him
is
that
he
is
just
fantastic
when
it
comes
to
multitasking",
Vidya
begins
talking
about
the
filmmaker,
"Even
during
the
making
of
the
film,
he
would
be
managing
his
ad
agency
meetings.
While
having
lunch
with
us,
he
would
be
having
round
table
conversations.
Meanwhile,
he
would
interact
with
all
of
us
quite
normally
on
the
sets."
She
is
also
impressed
with
the
fact
that
in
spite
of
a
hectic
schedule,
Balki
kept
himself
abreast
with
all
that
was
being
churned
out
in
Bollywood.
"He
would
always
catch
a
Friday
movie
release
without
fail.
That's
not
all;
he
is
someone
who
goes
for
all
the
concerts
and
plays.
Can
you
believe
that?
He
has
time
for
everything
and
anything.
He
manages
his
time
so
well",
she
gushes.
Time
management
is
not
the
only
factor
that
has
impressed
Vidya.
She
believes
that
Balki
is
also
an
ace
when
it
comes
to
people
management.
Vidya
Balan
"Temperamentally
he
is
just
so
cool",
she
smiles,
"He
is
just
so
easy
to
work
with.
I
have
seen
him
interacting
with
his
assistants.
His
people
management
is
fantastic
because
whether
it
is
Mr.
Amitabh
Bachchan
or
any
junior
most
crew
member
on
the
sets,
he
knows
how
to
get
that
comfort
feel
rolling.
He
gives
and
gets
respects
all
around."
However,
the
story
goes
that
to
begin
with
Vidya
wasn't
too
sure
about
working
with
Balki.
"I
have
a
personal
anecdote
to
share",
she
divulges,
"My
sister
and
brother-in-law,
whom
I
hold
in
great
regard,
have
worked
with
Balki
for
years
on
the
ads
that
he
has
made.
I
used
to
interact
with
a
lot
of
their
mutual
friends
and
they
always
used
to
speak
about
him.
This
set
me
wondering
that
what
was
so
great
about
him."
She
got
the
answer
when
Cheeni
Kum
released
and
Balki's
cinematic
sensibilities
were
on
display
for
one
and
all.
"I
loved
the
film
and
didn't
forget
the
kind
of
wonderful
experience
that
Balki
had
created.
Now
when
I
have
worked
with
him,
I
know
what
makes
some
of
his
qualities
so
distinct.
Both
Cheeni
Kum
and
Paa
have
been
based
on
subjects
hitherto
unexplored
and
all
of
that
has
been
possible
due
to
one
single
factor
-
sheer
conviction.
Once
Balki
is
sure
about
the
story
he
wants
to
tell,
there
is
no
looking
back",
she
comments.
It
is
this
conviction
factor
that
attracted
Vidya
towards
Paa.
"I
was
having
a
constant
pull
and
push
internally
before
I
decided
to
do
Paa.
However,
Balki
didn't
flinch
even
for
a
microsecond.
This
is
what
that
set
me
on
path
to
do
Paa.
I
had
certain
doubts
but
they
were
quashed
by
this
guy's
conviction.
It
is
simply
admirable
and
we
all
just
followed
the
line",
she
adds.
Vidya
Balan
While
Amitabh
Bachchan,
Tabu
and
Paresh
Rawal
were
senior
heavyweights
in
Cheeni
Kum,
same
wasn't
the
case
in
Paa
which
featured
her
along
with
Abhishek
Bachchan.
"There
is
this
mutual
sense
of
respect
that
Balki
encourages",
says
Vidya,
"Like,
I
really
enjoyed
the
way
he
used
to
interact
with
Mr.
Bachchan.
Similarly
with
me
and
Abhishek,
he
had
his
own
way
of
conveying
a
point.
Of
course
all
of
us
we
used
to
make
suggestions
and
he
was
open
to
them
as
well.
He
would
never
dismiss
our
suggestions."
And
how
much
did
these
suggestions
actually
get
incorporated
in
the
final
filming?
"Hardly
any",
Vidya
comes
up
with
a
laugh
here,
"Invariably
he
would
go
with
what
he
felt
was
right.
He
believed
in
the
principal
of
listen
to
all
and
do
what
you
feel
strongest
about.
But
yes,
this
entire
exercise
used
to
be
quite
helpful
since
I
would
ask
him
quite
a
few
pertinent
questions
and
I
would
always
get
the
right
answers."
This
is
the
reason
why
she
was
quite
convinced
when
in
the
early
days
Balki
explained
to
her
the
entire
idea
about
the
film,
its
background
(Progeria)
and
how
it
was
not
meant
to
evoke
sympathy
or
pity.
"I
was
wondering
if
Paa
would
turn
out
to
be
a
serious
film
but
Balki
was
quite
clear
that
this
was
not
going
to
be
the
case.
He
promised
that
it
would
be
a
heart
warming
film
and
that's
the
way
it
has
turned
out
to
be.
The
entire
disease
thing
is
just
the
background
of
the
film.
The
idea
is
to
project
the
story
with
all
the
sensitivity
but
not
make
it
a
sympathetic
affair",
she
concludes.