Actress Anushka Sharma, who teamed up with late filmmaker Yash Chopra for the first time for Jab Tak Hai Jaan, says she would have felt empty and incomplete if Chopra wouldn’t have told her about her performance in the movie.
“When we were shooting I always had long conversations with him (Chopra) but someone was always around like Shah Rukh, Adi and others. The last time I met him was at Rani Mukherji’s house for Ganpati puja. He called me and spoke to me for one hour about everything,” Anushka said in an interview here.
A still from the film Jab Tak Hai Jaan
“He told me what he thought about me in the film. He singled out some scenes which he thought I did very well. He told me where I was looking nice.
“Anything that I would have wanted to hear from my director post watching the film, he told me that day. I could have missed that opportunity as sadly he is not with us now,” the actress said.
Anushka got her first role at the age of 19 opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Yashraj banner’s Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’ in 2008.
She did a string of films with the banner like Badmaash Company, Band Baaja Baaraat, Ladies VS Ricky Bahl but got an opportunity to be directed by Yash Chopra in Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
“I would have never heard those things from him. It is all bizarre that before he left he told me what I had wanted to hear from him. I would have felt…empty, incomplete that Yashji did not tell me how I was in the film,” she said.
As Anushka was working with Chopra for the first time she wanted to make sure she gave her best.
“I was like was he happy with my performance? He could have taken any actress but he chose me and I just wanted to make sure he was happy with the decision. I hope I justified his choice and he told me I did…that was the last conversation I had with him,” she added.
“Before we started working on this film I knew him (Yash Chopra) as I was launched by the banner. I had a few short conversations with him. Only when you start working with a person you get to know him better,” she said.
Releasing on November 13, Jab Tak Hai Jaan stars Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead.
“When I used to meet him earlier there was a little bit of distance like when you respect someone so much, there is a little awe factor. When I started working with him I realised he was so relaxed, funny, had fantastic sense of humour. He was so warm and genuinely concerned about actors and crew,” she added.
The Band Baaja Baarat star describes Chopra as cool, funnier and young at heart person.
“Yashji was cooler, funnier and younger. I think age is just in the mind, I feel I am older than him in thought process. His sense of humour was so good, he was cool and fit. He took things lightly,” she said.
Anushka was also full of praise for Yash Chopra’s son and director-producer Aditya Chopra. “Adi (Aditya Chopra) is very special to me as he is my first director. Adi is also funny but his sense of humour is not as good as Yashji. He tries to do everything correctly, transparent and does it principally,” she added.
PTI
