QYou have often worked with Nandita Das. What is your relationship with her like?
I had worked with Nandita thrice, but I hadn’t met her for seven years until I Am. It was interesting because we got along great during our previous films but never kept in touch after that. And then suddenly, we were back together in I Am. I play a medical student in the film who makes an extra buck as a sperm-donor, while she plays Afia, a woman who wants to have a child through artificial insemination. Judging by the story you could tell that our scenes were going to be very uncomfortable. I told Onir that we shouldn’t do rehearsals and instead make use of the distance of so many years between us to get that discomfort between the two characters. Nandita agreed and it worked out pretty well.
QHave you built a good rapport with Onir after My Brother Nikhil?
I love working with Onir. He is a very sorted director. He is relatively very clear on what he wants. Also, if you show him a variation and he likes it, he switches very easily because he knows that he wants that. His characters are always interesting, as are their emotions.
QWould you be able to donate your sperm in real life?
No, I would never do that. It is very personal and I am not okay with the fact that there is some part of me that is growing somewhere else. But I understood where my character, Suraj came from and his need to do it.
QYou are sporting curly locks and a handle bar moustache. Is it for a film?
Yes, it is for a film, Jal, directed by debutant Girish Malik.