Shriya's learning experience

Shriya Saran has just wrapped up her shooting with Deepa Mehta for her film What's Cooking, under the banner of BRFilms. Shriya says working with the director Deepa Mehta has been an institution by itself.

Sharing her acting experience under Deepa Mehta, Shriya says, "An actor gets to learn so much through the perfect system of filmmaking and workshops done regularly with her. We needed to rehearse very regularly, almost before each and every scene. We had to enact the scene to perfection and go beyond the scene. This process made us feel very comfortable with each other. We were even asked to improvise on our roles. When she would not be satisfied, she would give her creative inputs, get the scene right, and then make us shoot. Believe me it works. After the rehearsals when we had to give a take, it used to be so smooth."

Shriya considers her What's Cooking co-star Seema Biswas to be a school of acting. "Seema is flawless in front of the camera. I got to learn a lot from her. Working with actors like Rajnikanth or Seema is a learning experience for any actor," says Shriya.

After her success in the South with films like Shivaji, Shriya is looking forward to a host of films in Bollywood. There's Mission Istanbul by Apoorva Lakhia, Ek with Bobby Deol and Nana Patekar and directed by Sangeet Sivam. Besides, she is also acting in Ashok Amritraj's Other End of the Line, which is her first Hollywood venture.

-Abhijit Mhamunkar