Ever since Emraan Hashmi came up with a 'murderous' act opposite Mallika Sherawat, it hasn't taken him (or for that matter his audience) to believe that taking a woman to bed (on screen at the least) is a tough job. However when it came to 'The Dirty Picture', director Milan Luthria had different plans for the kind of suppressed chemistry he wanted to build between Emraan and Vidya Balan. His 'mantra' was to keep the duo away from each other for as long as possible so that results when seen on screen, are fiery to say the least.

"I think I played a bit of a game between Emraan and Vidya," Milan gives that naughty wink out there, "I kept them apart for the longest time possible. In fact I only smiled with rumours of those so-called 'workshops' being conducted to make them comfortable with each other. On the contrary I wanted that sense of discomfort to come in because that is exactly what the characters demanded. As they were the unlikeliest pair to come together, I wanted them to be brought together on the sets and to be thrust into a bold scene."

Though one wonders whether both Emraan and Vidya shared the same enthusiasm as Milan when it came to his unique proposition. The director eventually had his way. Though he slightly modified the situation by filming that scene first that required Emraan and Vidya to insult each other, it was time for some real business soon after.

"I turned into an audience myself for these scenes because even I wasn't sure about the kind of chemistry they would end up igniting," confesses Milan. "I was anxious as they hadn't spent time with each other. I was the one who was responsible for it all, which means whatever came out of it, positive or not so positive, had to be entirely my onus. Fortunately, the scene turned out really well, and from this point on."

'The Dirty Picture' releases worldwide on 2nd December.