Soham, Koel Mallick and Raja Chanda at Shree Venkatesh Films’s Lake Gardens office. Picture by Pabitra Das

What made you choose Soham and Koel for Friday release Jaaneman?

Raja: We wanted to move away from Bittu’s (Soham) lover boy image and make him an action hero in Jaaneman (produced by Shree Venkatesh Films and Surinder Films). Then we thought of who could be an absolute contrast to his rough image and Koel came into the picture as a very mishti premika figure.

Tell us about your characters.

Koel: My character Riya has been through a lot in life. She is insecure, indecisive and vulnerable. The bond between Riya and Deba (Soham) is unspoken. Their feelings are never expressed. You always see me playing bubbly, chatty characters but Riya speaks very little.

Soham: It was getting very difficult for me to break the mould (of a lover boy) and when I was offered the chance to do something action-oriented, I jumped. Deba is extremely confident but can never express his feelings. The manner in which Deba quickly loses his temper and talks less is very much like me.

Raja: When they were kids, Koel and Soham used to fight over Koel’s cycle. Whenever Soham would go to Koel’s house, he would want to ride her bike and she would get upset. Since she has always had cycle issues, we gave Koel a cycle to ride all by herself in Switzerland for one of the song sequences. We made Soham the maintenance guy and fix the cycle. We did all this so that she could avenge herself!

Koel: Yes, and of all the beautiful spots in Fribourg they could have chosen for the cycle to break down, they found one with horse poo! Apparently that angle and that spot were the best for me to sit and shoot… so it got named the Lucky Potty area!

How is it to pair up again after Chander Bari (2007)?

Soham: Koel and I have been friends since childhood, so that made it easier for us to work together.

Koel: Soham is the only actor I knew from childhood. I would rather call him my enemy than friend, though! I would be extremely irritated with him because Bittu would always play son to my father (Ranjit Mallick) in most films. But since we knew each other, the chemistry was much easier to create. The level of comfort, understanding, trust and friendship came across on screen.

Was it challenging to do a road film?

Koel: We shot inside the car most of the time and it was like a furnace. We shot in Hyderabad, in 45 degrees Celsius, with extra lights and sunguns! But I guess that is the hazard of our profession. We have to look very happy even if we are not.

Soham: Imagine we were shooting in Rajarhat in the sweltering heat and I had to wear a jacket so as to not break the continuity. I tried so hard to convince Rajada that maybe after I see the girl, I get so happy that I take off my jacket and fling it dramatically. Alas, it did not work!

One thing you know about each other that others don’t know:

Koel: Soham is obsessed about dogs! I remember we were in Switzerland and he would suddenly go, ‘What a cute dog, tai na?’ and I was like ‘From which angle is the dog cute?’ No offence, but there were some really ugly dogs in Switzerland and Soham found all of them sweet!

Soham: Koel is too easy to irritate. On the sets, we all would decide to take her trip, and she would fall for it and get furious. That made it all the more fun!

Koel: Very funny! Why are you embarrassing me, Bittu? I have, in fact, given him a new name — Mr Giggles. Because no matter what I am doing — yelling at him or teasing him — he keeps smiling or giggling!

Of all the places you’ve travelled to shoot for films, which is your favourite?

Koel: I swear that is one of the greatest perks of being an actor. We get to see such beautiful places! I love the whole of Europe but Switzerland is the best. It is one of the most romantic places in the world.

Soham: I think my favourite place is Switzerland too and, of course, Mauritius. In fact, since I love water more than mountains, Mauritius is more exciting. We had once shot in the middle of the ocean… the changing colour of the water was mesmerising.