Jimmy Shergill with Minnisha Lamba in Yahaan

nThe Mumbai deluge is not the best thing that could have happened to your film?

Absolutely. There was such a great buzz around the film and I was getting compliments from everywhere, just for the film?s promos. This water thing shattered all my expectations. We were to go to Ahmedabad on Wednesday for a promotion ? that got cancelled. We were to have the film?s premiere on Thursday night ? that had to be called off, too. I hope things become normal soon? the weather is clearing up and the sun might just come out. I have my fingers crossed.

nYahaan has you as the solo hero after quite some time?

I have been doing films as leads but since they have not been promoted and marketed well, they have come and gone without people noticing them. With films like Munnabhai MBBS and Hum Tum promoted well, my cameos have been coming to the fore. But with Yahaan, it?s a different feeling altogether. It?s about being part of a very good film. It?s the best film I have done, it?s the best character I have played and with due respect to all directors, Shoojit Sircar is the best director I have worked with.

nSo you are rating Shoojit higher than Gulzar and Aditya Chopra?

He has done everything so correctly and he is technically so good. If you look at all the aspects of Yahaan separately, you?ll see what I mean. Whether it?s the music or camerawork or dialogues or sound, everything is outstanding on its own. Even the performances? an actor who has just two scenes in the film is brilliant. Look at the action sequences ? it?s so real, it?s not like we are copying Matrix. And Shoojit will do everything himself ? he will emotionally treat everything. If it?s a song, he will have the choreographer around but shoot it himself. If it?s action, he will have the action director around but call the shots himself.

nHow difficult was it shooting in trouble-torn downtown Kashmir?

The guerrilla style of shooting saw us through. We would go to these places, knock off shooting in three hours and go somewhere else. We have even shot at night when we would be on a shikara on Dal Lake and Shoojit would be in another boat and you could see the mosque in the background. I have shot in Kashmir before (for Agnipankh) but not in this manner.

nSo there weren?t any real scares on the spot?

Except for one day when we had to shoot in Habbakadal and Fatehkadal. We couldn?t sleep the night before because we had to start shooting from 5 in the morning. Shoojit insisted that we shoot on those bridges which are really dangerous. He wanted the film to look as authentic as possible and we all agreed since we were so passionate about the film. Once we reached there, we saw soldiers guarding the place. The camera was hidden somewhere and Shoojit was directing us on walkie-talkies. Then I was given a real gun for the scene. I requested the soldiers to remove the magazine just for safety. They said that?s not possible ? if firing started from somewhere, I had to fire back! Anyway, we were soon all laughing together at the end of it all.

nHow was newcomer Minnisha Lamba to work with?

The kind of training Minnisha went through under Shoojit the eight or nine months before Yahaan, she didn?t remain a newcomer when the shooting started. And she was perfect for the role ? innocence, vulnerability, everything was there on her face. Also, the character needed a particular Kashmiri accent which Minnisha could deliver because of the couple of years she studied in Srinagar.

nYou also reportedly got stuck in the London 7/7 blasts?

Not really. At that time, I was shooting in the London countryside for Karan Razdan?s film Umar about the relationship among three old men ? Kader Khan, Satish Kaushik and Prem Chopra ? and a boy. When I was driving back, I came to know of the blasts and was on alert.

nWhat else is on the platter?

There?s my first Punjabi film, Yaraanal Bahaara, releasing in September, directed by cinematographer Manmohan Singh. I have always wanted to a Punjabi movie. It?s about the problems faced by the Punjabi youth because of the generation gap. Then there?s Khafa, a suspense thriller, something which I haven?t done before.

You can catch Yahaan from Friday at INOX (Forum): 12.25 pm, 3.05 pm, 10.45 pm; INOX (City Centre): 12.30 pm, 5.15 pm, 10.20 pm; 89 Cinemas: 12.15 pm, 3.05 pm, 10.05 pm