Actress Amruta Khanvilkar had fun working with Alia Bhatt in "Raazi", and says the fact that she is grounded reflects her upbringing.
"Apart from the story line, Meghna Gulzar was one of the key reasons for me to do the film. I have never played the role of a Pakistani Muslim before, and that too playing a real-life character was very intriguing," Amruta told IANS.
"Every day was an enriching learning experience - be it speaking language (Urdu dialect) or being around Meghna ma'am or shooting scenes with Alia. The entire experience was enthralling."
Based on Harinder Sikka's book "Calling Sehmat", the story of the film "Raazi" revolves around a young Kashmiri girl who gets married to a Pakistani Army officer and becomes a spy to give inside information about the neighbouring country to protect her own.
On working with Alia, she said: "I believe she is an extremely secure actor and an extremely receiving and giving actor. Her performance in 'Raazi' speaks volumes of her talent. This girl who in just 25 years of age has achieved so much in such less time and has seen stardom like no one else her age - but despite all this, she is so grounded, which truly reflects her upbringing."
Amruta finds Alia "a friendly and jolly person".
"There are totally no airs about this girl. She makes all her co-stars feel extremely comfortable - I too shared a good bond with her throughout the shoot," added the actress, who has featured in projects like "Golmaal", "Nach Baliye 7", season two of "24".
Amruta says working with Meghna was on her bucket list.
"Meghna ma'am was one of the main reasons for me to be a part of this film. She was literally my 'bucket-list' director. Working with Meghna ma'am was a learning each and every day, right from getting my character right, to the Urdu lessons, to the body language of Munira, everything was well discussed and decided by ma'am.
"There was so much of a detailed work going on in every department, that as an actor, it made our jobs very easy. One thing I absolutely love about her is that she is the most composed and calm director I have ever worked with."
After the movie, the actress took a short break.
She said: "I feel my choice of work allows me to take a break as and when I want. With the release of 'Raazi' and its promotions, I couldn't spend quality time with mom. Hence, right now, I am on a break for two days at Radisson Blu Resort and Spa, Alibaug, and we are having an absolutely amazing and relaxing time.
"My ideal holiday would be taking my full fam-jam along with me to a place like this, where we could just relax and unwind together as we do not get to do that in Mumbai with everyone's busy schedules."
--IANS
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