Waheeda Rehman with Shabana Azmi and Kanwaljeet at Tangerine during the shooting of 15, Park Avenue. A Telegraph picture

The first thing I have in the morning: Is a strong cup of filter coffee; I really look forward to it. For breakfast, I eat only fruits and sometimes cornflakes or my cereals. Earlier, when I used to leave early for work, I would have toast, tea and some fruits.

My lunch: Dal, sabzi, accompanied by some fried fish or fish curry with rice.

My lunch when I was working in the 1960s: I used to carry my lunch from home. Sometimes, when the producer insisted, I would eat the food that came from his home. Since the camera magnifies one’s looks, I had to be careful and couldn’t afford to eat oily and fattening food. But, fortunately, my body metabolism is such that I don’t put on weight. My friends really envy me for keeping my weight in check.

My diet: I never went to the gym; and also luckily I never had to diet. Nowadays, since there is so much emphasis on heroines looking slim, and more so because of the costumes they wear, the girls have to really work hard on their diet and workouts.

My meals: Are largely vegetarian but I like seafood like prawns and fish a lot. My children enjoy vegetables as much as they like chicken.

My favourite fruits: I love mangoes. But my son is not fond of mangoes at all. He doesn’t eat them.

My dinner: Sabzi, roti, dal and sometimes something in non-vegetarian like chicken or seafood. Neither my children nor I like red meat.

My favourite desserts: I am not very fond of desserts. But I love chocolates.

Eating with my co-stars: When Nanda and I worked together in Kaala Bazaar, we shared our tiffins. If Meenaji (Kumari) and I were shooting in the same studio, we would take turns at bringing tiffin from home. Meenaji’s tiffin consisted of heavy non-vegetarian food like U.P-type chicken or mutton, dals, biryani. My tiffin was always light — dal, roti, sabzi, curd, salads. After a heavy meal one feels sleepy and you can’t work.

Eating out: Nanda and I meet frequently and we are regulars at a seafood restaurant close to where we live. I have always been fond of going to restaurants. When I go to a restaurant, I give more importance to the food than the ambience, though it’s a must that one or the other, if not both, should be good. If there is a pool with a beautiful lawn, I don’t mind if the food is passable. On the other hand, the decor of certain places is okay but the food is excellent.

My culinary abilities: I learnt cooking at 15, just before I joined films. But once I started shooting, I would come home exhausted and was in no mood to cook. My husband (Kamaljeet) was an excellent cook and he taught me to make Punjabi food including pulaos. He was very fond of meat delicacies like kebabs, kormas and aloo meat. Now whenever I have the time, I go shopping to Pali market and cook. My kitchen has to be clean at any given time.

My favourite cuisine besides Indian: Chinese, Thai and Italian. Since I enjoy cooking Chinese, Thai and Italian food at home, I refer to cook books sometimes.