Priyanka Chopra chats with Ram Kamal Mukherjee about her films and the experience of shooting with Shah Rukh Khan

Ram Kamal Mukherjee

• How differently have you tried to portray the character of Roma in Farhan Akhtar’s Don?


I knew that if I tried to do the role exactly the way Zeenat Aman did it in Don, I would fall short of people’s expectations and they would compare me negatively with her. Just to avoid this comparison, I have done it my own way. I cannot compare myself with Zeenatji, because she was unbelievable. I play a martial arts expert in the film. I had to execute really high kicks!

• So actually you are competing with Hrithik Roshan?

Ha ha… He is a superman. He can fly, I can just fight! I have some great stunts in Don. I still remember that when I punched someone, it never looked powerful enough. So each time I did such shots, Shah Rukh said, ‘Aur thoda manly hoga!’ Shah Rukh gave me punching lessons. I kept trying, but I don’t think that I managed to do it the way Shah Rukh wanted me to. I think I can never punch like a man, although I tried really hard. (Laughs)

• In Don, you have worked with Shah Rukh Khan for the first time. How was the experience?

Shah Rukh Khan is a person who doesn’t sleep. I wonder where he gets his energy from. You even have to remind him to eat. His involvement in a project is amazing. Before coming to the sets, he makes little notes on each and every character of the film. He also writes down what others should do, how they should react. He would sit with Farhan regularly and discuss his ideas. Every day after pack-up, he would practice all his action scenes, back pain notwithstanding. I was really nervous during my action sequences — and he was really patient with me! He is very thoughtful. For instance, the day we wrapped up the shooting in Malaysia, Shah Rukh bought a small gift for everyone.

• Besides punching, have you learnt anything else from Shah Rukh during the shoot of Don?

Well, he taught me how to play video games. He is hooked to video games and if you work with him, you inevitably become a hardcore gamer.

• Did you watch the original Don after signing the film?

No. I had seen it long back. I think a lot of people of my generation have not seen the original Don. Don was a cult film at one time, it isn’t so any more. So we’re bringing Don to the people once again. Ours is a very cool film, and none of the characters have any similarity with the original one. We have our own way of acting and executing the characters, although the spirit is the same.

• You star with Akshaye Khanna in Dharmesh Darshan’s Aap Ki Khatir. Was it difficult to work with him, considering he is a very private person and doesn’t mingle much with co-actors?

After working with Akshaye Khanna in Aap Ki Khatir I have become his fan. I think he is one of the finest actors in our industry, and it’s fun to act with someone who is so good in give-and-take. Akshaye gets involved with each and every scene, he discuss the scenes with his co-actors too. And it’s untrue that he doesn’t mingle with his co-actors. He’s very cordial with everyone.

• It was reported in a tabloid that while you and Ameesha were shooting for Aap Ki Khatir in London, you had a showdown with Ameesha. The situation became so ugly that you refused to stay in the same hotel where Ameesha was staying?

Yes, I heard this story. I guess people like to believe that two heroines can’t work together without fighting with each other. It’s easy to write about two actors who are shooting abroad and not available for comments. Ameesha and I got along well enough.

• Do you mean to say that you and Ameesha are close friends?

No, I didn’t mean to say that. I’m not close friends with any of my co-actors. I don’t hang around with them after work. But yes, I am very cordial with all my co-actors, be it an actor or an actress. And I don’t fight with anyone.

• After Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, you will be seen in yet another romantic comedy, Aap Ki Khatir.

Aap Ki Khatir is funny, but it isn’t an out-and-out laugh riot. It’s a popcorns-and-cola film, where you can go with your lover and have a nice time. It isn’t earth-shattering, nor is it ‘hatke’. It’s just another film about dating, love and romance. There are many relationships in the film, which are used as sub-plots.

• How different is your character from what you have done in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi?

It’s completely different. Mujhse Shaadi Karogi was about two guys wanting to marry one girl. In Aap Ki Khatir I play the role of a completely confused girl who tries to show the world that she is very good. I could relate to the character because I am often confused too.

• You have worked with Sunil Darshan in Andaz. Now you have worked with his brother Dharmesh. How different are they from each other in their working style?

It’s unfair to compare them. I have known Dharmeshji for a long time, since the days of Andaz. He used to hang around at the sets of his brother’s (Sunil Darshan) film. Since then we have been wanting to work together. But somehow it never worked out. I think he is a very passionate filmmaker and he makes all his heroines look good on screen. The fun of working with him in this particular movie is that this is not his kind of genre. He generally makes very intense romantic films. This is a light film, a completely opposite of all he has done in past. And I hadn’t worked with Akshaye before, so that was certainly one of the reasons to sign the film.

• Comedy requires a good sense of timing. When you do comedy, do you depend entirely on the script or improvise a lot?

I depend a lot on the script, although I do believe in improvisation. I used to sit with Akshaye and Dharmeshji and work out different ways of doing the scenes…