Amitabh meets Shahrukh in hospital

All too real

The hero, a sportsman, Sanjeev Malhotra (Sammir Dattani) has just had his leg amputated. The special effects by Victor Bannerjee's daughter is so real, it's scary.

"I know," whispers Sammir. "When I saw myself on the video monitor I said, 'that looks too real… as though I've really lost a leg… being an actor I guess I need to prepare myself to feel all kinds of emotions." You can almost smell the antispectic in the hospital, as Chainani sets up the first shot for the film.

Meeting Shahrukh

It's a very touching tender interaction between a terminally ill five-year-old boy named Shah Rukh and Sanjeev. The boy walks up to the numbed hero's bed and introduces himself. "I'm Shah Rukh Khan."

"And I'm Amitabh Bachchan," Sanjeev says sarcastically. Within minutes the two boys become friends and Shah Rukh says, "My mom says I'm going to die…that means when I go to sleep and I wake up, all the pain will be gone and I'll be able to play just like all the other kids."

The glycerine is forgotten. Tears well up naturally in Sammir's eyes. The director is very impressed with her hero as he goes through some gruelling emotional scenes throughout the day. By the end of Day One, Sammir and little Ayush who plays Shah Rukh are pals, with the former giving the child his lines and cues.

"I remember how lost I used to feel, while doing ads at the age of seven. Every time Shah Rukh looks at his mom vacantly; I remember how as a child, I used to forget my lines and look helplessly at my mother. It's so important for the senior experienced actor to help the junior. I've just shot in Hyderabad for Mani Shankar's film with Sunil Shetty. He was so encouraging."