The director of critically and commercially acclaimed films, 'Piku', 'Vicky Donor' and 'Madras Cafe', Shoojit Sircar interacted with film enthusiasts over chai and bun muska at Poetic License' latest workshop held at the Irani Cafe, Excelsior recently.

The session was moderated by 'The Lunchbox' director Ritesh Batra who has started the initiative to revive the Irani Cafes in Mumbai.

The previous sessions which were held at various iconic Irani Cafes across the city, were attended by Farah Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sharat Kataria, Radhika Apte, Atul Mongia and Seher Latif.

In the interactive session of one hour, Shoojit candidly spoke about the process of filmmaking and shared some great insights about how he created the fantastic world of 'Piku'. Shoojit Sircar quotes.

Casting: "We had already decided on Irrfan Khan and Mr. Bachchan while wring the script. Their characters were written keeping them in mind. Deepika (Padukone) happened post the script was written. Deepika got the character bang on. I had asked to watch Konkona Sen films."

On acting styles of Irrfan Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone: "Most of the job was done by Mr. Bachchan himself. He is meticulous. He starts rehearsing with a spot bot if his co-actors are not there to give cues. Irrfan won't do rehearsals but he puts the things in his head. The script is in his blood and veins. Dipika is spontaneous. She doesn't do many rehearsals. She feels she will lose her spontaneity." My theatre techniques and discipline helped me a lot in making 'Piku'. I shot the film in a theatrical way. We did many rehearsals and the final take was done in 10 minutes I had a lot of fun directing the actors."

Chemistry of Irrfan and Deepika: "During the scripting stage, Irrfan and Deepika romance was kept dry and subdued but both the actors took the romance to another level."

Milieu: Talking about how the cities they grow up and familiar with makes a natural setting for the filmmakers to tell their stories, (Mumbai for Ritesh Batra or Delhi for Shoojit) Shoojit says, "Most of the job is done if the milieu is right. It's a make believe world. You have to transport the audience to that world." He said Madras Cafe was the most difficult film because he wasn't familiar with that world. He says, "Madras Cafe was the most difficult film to make. In 'Madras Cafe' I cheated everybody. It didn't release in Tamil Nadu and London but has the highest dvd sales there. I never imagined I could make a film like that in India."