Saif Ali Khan spills Parineeta secrets!

By Bollywood Hungama -

January 1, 2009 - 12:00 AM IST

Ever thought you would catch the suave, uber cool Saif Ali Khan as a Bengali babu of the sixties? Not unless you believed in miracles or you are Pradeep Sarkar.

Well the Khan is here to reveal some juicy 'behind-the-door' happenings about Parineeta. The original casts, goofs, Pradeep's funny mannerisms, shoots being cancelled, his funny makeup routine, video games on the sets, toy trains and more. Get ready as Saif is here to tell you things that makes Pradeep & his unit just a bit uncomfortable

Casting hiccups!

Vidhu didn't want either me or Vidya!

yeah that is way I started off! Though Pradeep was keen on having me, Vidhu didn't think I could manage it fine. And like he'll tell you, it was me who bullied my way into the film. And today when I look back and visualize Parineeta, not only do I see myself, I also see Vidya Balan. I think she is mind-blowing.

The perfect Lolita!

I would have preferred Ash to Vidya

I will not be a prude and tell you that at first notice itself I knew that she will be the super star of tomorrow, no, that wasn't what I thought. What I would have ideally loved is to co-star with a big star like Ash or Rani. But while shooting with Vidya I realized that there is no other actress who could have done that role as well as Vidya. There is a genuiness about her that she has brought on screen. I don't think an established actor could substitute the rawness that Vidya has delivered.

Modern 'Lolita, Shekhar & Girish'?

Not many know that we shot a modern version of Parineeta!

That's true, we did a trial of Parineeta where the film was created in modern settings; among the scenes that were shot was the song Piyu Bole. But I along with everyone else were convinced that it wasn't working out. The soul was somewhere lost. Parineeta comes alive only when it is told from its age. So sixties it had to be!

Pradeep is a grandmaster who thinks in terms of visuals. He along with our cinematographer Natragan, have done a fabulous job of capturing the mood and moment. The entire light & shadow play is stupendous. I don't think it would have been very interesting to tell Parineeta as a today story!

Kolkatta has a lot of history to it which makes it fascinating!

Kolkatta as a city is an interesting place to be. It is lovely looking, extremely picturesque and has a lot of history to it which is what I think makes it a fascinating! What I realized during my shooting was that though it might be dated, the Kolkatta of the sixties was so rich in its culture and being that it could easily match up to any culture hotspot of those days. It was an extremely liberated place for those times.

The train story

What's the big deal?

I seriously didn't understand this one thing. So when the press asked me about me shooting on the same train that my mom shot on, I exclaimed So what? I guess that didn't go very well with them. That's when I immediately changed my strategy and remarked how touched I was shooting on the same train & all that jazz. I guess they liked that bit for their copy! he smiles wicked.

The shoot had to be stalled & Pradeep was a wreck!

But what interested me more than shooting on the train was the way the permit for shooting was secured. We were at the location halfway into shooting and we suddenly get to know that a delegation is to arrive and that the place had to be cleared. Most of us didn't know what needed to be done to salvage the situation and Pradeep da was looking like a wreck! That's when his wife intervened and you should have been there man, she just took on the authorities! We later got the required permit and shot Kasto Mazaa in 5 hours flat! This I think only a woman, rather a wife would do!

Secrets about Pradeep

When he sleeps, his tongue sticks out!

While on Pradeep I must tell you that he is a taskmaster, he is also emotional & amusing all at once. We once had a long schedule that lasted for 40 hours at a stretch. People were tired, groggy and fagged out but this guy would simply go on & on and on

And then when he had broken every bone in his body & exhausted the last fibre in his system, he would fall asleep on the sets itself. It's a chaos out there but you can watch Pradeep snoozing in a corner. That's because even the last ounce of energy is gone! But what's still amusing is that when he sleeps, his tongue sticks out!

He would rewind, re-rewind & watch the footage in slow-mo!

Once another thing is that once the shoot for the day is done, he will rewind, re-rewind and re-re-rewind it on the monitor and watch the entire thing all night long. Trust me you guys, it is the most hilarious thing you would have ever seen!

Then there was this other time when we had just finished the long shoot and I believe we were in a cab going to the airport, Pradeep had to get off at a recording studio and while he begins to walk away, he sudeenly stops, returns to the cab, So now you guys will be gone, right? he asked us with a blank expression. We were like, 'Yes!' I won't be seeing you people any longer he said dreamily. He is such an emotional guy, a total softie. But again, it was so funny!

After all that I have said about him, I hope he takes me in his next film. What do you think; will he? Dim chances, huh?

Saif's bizarre makeup tips!

Sun-bathing was part of my makeup regime

Since I am of the fair variety, catching a little sun was my way of putting a little life into the skin. Don't look for logic here, since it kind of flushes up the look, I kind of like what I see. So my morning routine would include sunbathing with my iPod on. You might call it a bit quirky but yeah, that was my makeup regime.

Parineeta to me is

a story about relationships. It is a love triangle in a way. Actually not just in a way, for the most of it. It is a love triangle which has been beautifully dressed with sub-plots. There is a father-son equation, a mother-son equation, a friendship band. Yes, it is a story about relationship well told.