Vidya Balan, who plays Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in “Paa”, was so impressed by Abhishek’s caring behaviour towards his father during the shooting that she confesses she would like to have a son like Abhishek in real life.

“I would prefer a son like Abhishek. I have seen him with his father on the sets… he was so nice to his father that I was touched,” Vidya told reporters here Saturday.

Director R. Balakrishnan’s “Paa” is an emotional story of a father-son relationship and Amitabh will be seen as Abhishek’s 13-year-old son Auro who is suffering from a rare disease progeria, that accelerates ageing. The film releases Dec 4.

“The film is all about Auro and all through the film there is a certain sensibility about Auro, but no sympathy is shown towards the 13-year-old progeric child in the film,” said Vidya.

When the director approached her for the role, she wasn’t sure about playing the mother of a progeric child. “Initially, I wondered how to do the role as I didn’t have that motherly instinct. But while working on the film I realised what motherhood is,” said Vidya.

She says playing Amitabh’s mother wasn’t difficult at all. “I was a bit concerned initially but it was smooth sail once we started working together.”

Asked if it wasn’t a risk to play a mother so early in her career, she said: “I didn’t see any risk, rather it was a lifetime opportunity to get to work in such a wonderful film.”

RAHUL SINGH tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that with Jail, the truth of his performance as an actor has gone up by many more degrees

In what way has your performance in Jail helped you as an actor?

I am still happily basking in the glory of the compliments, which are coming my way for my sterling performance in the recently released Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Jail, in which I have essayed the character of Abdul Ghani. I feel that after having made my debut with Shyam Benegal’s Zubeida, I have indeed come a long way since then, growing in strength as an actor.

How did you prepare to get into the skin of your character in Jail?

Though Madhur did not ask me, on my own I went to Arab galli near Alfred Theatre in Mumbai to a motor garage to hang out there not just for a day or two but for actually ten days to observe how mechanics behave and learn their accent to bring life to my character. I also made it a point to go to Jodhpur Jail and speak to the prisoners there, since I play a tough prisoner with a soft heart in the film Jail.

Would you agree that as far as length is concerned, your role is not at all a big one?

If you go by its length, the character of Abdul Ghani is not very pivotal, but I am glad that I could make an impact with my role and succeed in bagging a lot of encomiums not only from the masses but also by the discerning critics. I enjoyed getting my teeth into the skin of the character of mechanic Abdul Ghani, who is a happy go lucky guy tossed around by one moment of anger.

How would you rate your performance as an actor in Jail?

Looking back at my career so far, I can say that though Zubeida won me nomination as the best actor and my best performance as an actor was in Kachchi Sadak, with Jail, the truth of my performance has gone up by many more degrees.

Is it true that you had studied acting not in India but abroad?

Yes. I had studied acting from Royal Academy of Drama and British Film Institute, London.

What do you have to say about Madhur Bhandarkar as a director?

I had acted with a director like Madhur Bhandarkar for the first time. Like Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Madhur is also not technically sharp but his story telling is absolutely excellent. Madhur knows which direction he is going into. He does not give you much stress as an actor, because his vision is so clear that you follow it without being explained. He is a very good captain. What I like about Madhur is that he is absolutely contrary to the serious image that he has.

How humble is Madhur as a director?

I confess that I was pleasantly surprised and shocked when Madhur asked me whether I felt that he had been able to do justice to me as an actor, after the trial show of Jail. I told Madhur without mincing words that he had done justice to me as an actor to such an extent that I have become addicted to him and would love to be part of every film of his, whether he wants me or not and finds me suitable or not for the character that he has in mind for his films.

Which are the films you are having up your sleeves as of now?

I play one of the main leads in quite a few films like Manmohan Shetty’s next untitled film with Abhishek Sharma as the director, Farhan Akhtar’s Dhruv, directed by Sudhir Mishra, Amol Gupte’s next film after Taare Zameen Par, Taara Sitara, Aamir Khan’s Delhi Belly and Prakash Jha’s Turning 50 directed by Alankrita with Gul Panag and Purab Kohli as my co-stars. Besides these films, I also have Shamin Desai’s Raftaar in which I play the negative role with Emraan Hashmi and Neha Dhupia and Shyam Benegal’s Well Done Abba in which I am doing a comedy role.

How happy are you with the progress that you have made as an actor till date?

I am quite happy with the progress that he I have made as an actor ever since I had made my debut with Zubeida. Till date I have had a very diverse range as an actor, having done not only comic but also romantic as well as negative in several films like Zubeida, Darna Mana Hai, Netaji, Kyon Ho Gaya Na, Firaaq as well as Sikander and Jail, besides Kachchi Sadak.

Tell me about any memorable feedback that you have received as an actor till date!

I was overwhelmed when the son of Zaman Kiyani, the Commanding Officer of Indian National Army, who was technically India’s first war hero, rang me up to tell me that he felt like he was watching his father on the screen when he saw me playing the role in Shyam Benegal’s Netaji.

What is your dream as an actor?

I confess that my dream is to work with sensitive directors ranging from Rajkumar Hirani and J.P. Dutta to Dipankar Bannerji, Anurag Basu and Kabir Khan.

“Aishwarya is a very respectable professional. It hurts to see how her sheer hard work is ridiculed to build one spicy story by the media. She has been a soft target. And the sort of rumours rising now can damage my relationship with her. She has been my friend for a long time and I am afraid I will have a fallout with her,” Shah told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

“There are certain people who are making systematic attempts to destroy my relationship with Aishwarya. There are gossip mongers who are spreading baseless rumours that she has refused to dub for ‘Action Replay’ after seeing the rushes. But none of this is true,” he added.

Shah gives three reasons to prove that all the rumours are baseless.

“Firstly, when the shooting of the film has not been completed, where’s the question of the rushes and dubbing? Secondly, I haven’t even seen the ‘edit’ of the film. After the shoot completes, it will take at least two and a half months to put it in order for a final cut; so there is no need for dubbing at the moment.

“And lastly, ‘Action Replay’ is in sync sound, so dubbing is totally out of the question. Besides, I have been busy for ‘London Dreams’; Aishwarya has been busy shooting ‘Ravana’ and ‘Guzaarish’. She has been travelling a lot so we didn’t even have time to take ‘Action Replay’ forward. What is the logic behind these rumours then?” he added.

This apart, there were also rumours that Aishwarya had repeatedly rejected one of music composer Pritam Chakraborty’s song for the film. But Shah denies it.

“It was I who had rejected Pritam’s song thrice, not Aishwarya. The song was for her entry in the film and I wanted to crack a big song. I never allow my actors to my music recording studio – then from where have these rumours come out from?” he asked in an agitated tone.

Shah, who made hits like “Singh Is Kinng” and “Namastey London”, is yet to shoot the last leg of the movie, which also features actor Akshay Kumar and Neha Dhupia.

“The last schedule of the film is still pending. We have planned to shoot it in December or January. Currently I am doing the recce for the locations,” he said.

“This shot of me in a backless posture and Saif with a wound on his chest tell so much about the film’s theme,” Kareena told IANS.

“There is love, passion and violence – all combined in here and what better way than to show it through a single still? You too would agree that there is nothing sleazy or vulgar about it. Knowing the sensibilities of Karan Johar (producer) and Rensil D’Silva (director), that’s the least one could have expected,” she added.

Kareena said that after Geet in “Jab We Met”, her character of Avantika in “Kurbaan” will make people sit up and take notice.

“The girl’s role has a lot of edge in ‘Kurbaan’, something which starts becoming more and more visible as the film unfolds. In any case the film is not one of those cliched love stories. Every character has quite a few layers to it and Avantika, the character I play, is no exception. She is quite pivotal to ‘Kurbaan’,” she said.

Kareena plays a professor in “Kurbaan” who gets married to her colleague, played by Saif Ali Khan. They move to New York after marriage, but as a series of events unfold she finds herself into a vortex of danger and intrigue.

She further realises that she is a pawn in a huge game and no one could be trusted.

“What made this role special is the fact that I play this young beautiful professor who is quite normal. She reacts to terrorism for the first time and life is never the same again for her,” she said.

“Actually if you ask me, then technically ‘Kurbaan’ is the story of this girl. She is the light of the screen. I am sure people will cry with Avantika…so strong is her characterisation,” the actress said.

After “Jab We Met”, Kareena was seen in “Main Aurr Mrs Khanna”, “Kambakkth Ishq”, “Tashan” and “Golmaal Returns”. And except “Golmaal Returns”, none of the films did well at the box office.

Kareena is delighted about the prospects of audiences seeing her in a different light after the film and says it is not a frothy romance drama.

“‘Kurbaan’ has a deep-rooted love story to it, but it is not a frothy romantic film that we are time and again exposed to. The love story is much deeper here. There is a definite meaning, purpose and reason to it. Also, the film is quite powerful in its own way since it’s the voice of moderate Islam,” she said.

The film, which also stars Vivek Oberoi, Om Puri, Kirron Kher and Dia Mirza, is releasing Nov 20.

“Ranbir and I are of course competitors. But there’s no negative rivalry between us. Our respective fathers (Nitin Mukesh and Rishi Kapoor) would kill us if we behaved like two brats fighting for the same roles,” Neil told IANS.

“I’m proud that Ranbir’s and my grandfather (Raj Kapoor and Mukesh) were very close friends. My father and Ranbir’s father adore each other. Ranbir is like my younger brother,” he added

Neil’s “Jail” and Ranbir’s “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani” releases on the same day.

“I’d want Ranbir’s film to do as well as mine,” Neil says. “Fortunately, ‘Jail’ and ‘Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani’ look like north and south poles.”

Frankly, I have no clue. I guess, I am going to have to find that out.