Q: How was it working with Aparna Sen again in 15 Park Avenue?

Many things were the same as Mrs & Mrs Iyer while many things were different. Aparna Sen’s command over the language of creativity, her demands on actors to bring on the table more than normal, and her clear idea of what her cinema ought to be, were still the same.

Q: So what changed?

The comfort level. If she saw me giving a bad shot she said so loudly. And if she thought I was right on the button she didn’t make a noise about it. Normally during the first time directors are very effusive about their appreciation of actors. This time there was a true honest relationship between me and Aparna where nothing needed to be overstated. Between the two films we’ve become really good friends. And I’ve the most enormous respect for her as a human being and director. During 15 Park Avenue we never hesitated to argue or fight. People who like each other often do.

Q: Your first with Shabana Azmi?

Yes, I call her Empress. It’s mindboggling to watch the array of skills a Naseer or a Shabana brings to a character. When you combine those qualities with their humility before a shot, you realise that’s the essence of any actor. She’s just one of the most appealing human beings I know?So is Waheeda Rehman who’s also in the cast. She and I got along really well. Off the sets, we discussed social issues. I’d look at her and wish she had been born a decade later.

Q: Did you enjoy this film more than Mr & Mrs Iyer?

Can you imagine me doing a film with such a gorgeous gallery of women?.Waheedaji, Shabana, Konkona and Shefali Shah who in my opinion is the best thing in the movie. She plays my wife. All these women have an opinion and a sense of humour. I was in seventh heaven. It was nirvana. But personally I’m fonder of the content in Mr & Mrs Iyer?and let me tell you, I am far less central to the drama in 15 Park Avenue. This is the story of Konkona’s decline into insanity and her relationship with her half-sister Shabana. I’ve a wonderful role. But I come in the second-half.