After a sensitive cameo act in Shaurya, you are back doing a light-hearted film like Welcome to Sajjanpur… How does it feel?I am super duper excited (laughs). Being a part of a Shyam Benegal movie was actually a high point for me when I first read the script. He is somebody who is liked and revered by everyone in my community.In fact, not many people know that we belong to same community and we speak the same language (Konkani). So, people like Girsh Karnad, Ananth Nag, and Shyam Benegal have always been looked upon by our community.Then of course I happened to see Zubeidaa when I was studying and that is one film that I still count as one of my favorite films. So when Shyamji called me for this role, I didn't ask him any questions and I just said yes to the film. Because, I so wanted to be on board under his direction.Did you ever ask him why did he think of you for this role?I did ask him and he said that he had seen me in Vivah and felt that I most appropriately suited the role in terms of look and age and all that he was looking for. So yes…I got lucky (laughs).First things first, where is Sajjanpur? Does it exist or is it a fictitious place?Whatever we have shown about Sajjanpur does exist but at the end of the day a name really doesn't matter because there is a place called Sujjanpur in India and there is another place called Sarhanpur in India.Like wise there is Sajjanpur; the film set in Sajjanpur, is thoroughly entertaining and you will just laugh out loud and leave the cinema hall feeling good.Not just that, in fact when you come out of the theatres, you will realize that in retrospect, some of the things which you laughed about during the film are some of the grave issues that our country is facing.
Even today in the so-called modern India there are villages like Sajjanpur which face the issues that the film portrays.What is the film all about?The film is a fascinating story of the people living in this village called Sajjanpur. Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade) is the protagonist of the film and he's the common factor amongst all the characters in the film. He is the only literate guy in the village and everybody comes to him to write their letters.Apart from being a light hearted comedy, the film is a satire to some extent. We are supposed to play ourselves. Nobody is trying too hard to be funny or resorting to slapstick comedy.The village Sajjanpur is full of mad-hatters and we want people to come and forget their own world come into this small village and have fun with us (laughs).You are playing a village belle for the first time. Tell us something more about your character?I play Kamla in the film. Like I said, Kamla is illiterate and cannot read or write. She plays a potter and it's a very rustic, earthy, rural Indian character. Sajjanpur is her world, she cannot see beyond Sajjanpur because she has never ventured out. She comes to Mahadev to write her letters and of course hilarious situation revolve around it.You are paired with Shreyas Talpade for the first time? How was the experience working with him?Shreyas and I bonded well throughout the making of the film. In fact, I remember, the first time I saw Shreyas was on the sets of Om Shanti Om. Farah knew that I was supposed to work with him and she called him into the van and he came in his old man get up.That was my first glimpse of Shreyas Talpade (laughs). After that we had a couple of workshops with Mr. Shyam Benegal, which is when I started to get to know Shreyas better. Post that, on the sets, when I saw Shreyas working, he was completely into his character Mahadev.He was not only effortless with his dialogue delivery but was also improvising on the dialect. I got very impressed and I felt that I should work very hard on my lines too (laughs).Talking about your career, your first film Ab Ke Baras sank at the B.O., you were noticed in The Legend of Bhagat Singh, got your first big hit with Ishq Vishk, had some really big hits like Masti & Main Hoon Naa and then after a gap of few years you probably had your biggest hit with Vivah. Post Vivah, a lot of people feel your career hasn't gone the way it should have. Do you feel the same too?Well…to be frank…sometimes I do because post Vivah I immediately did a South film and that took away my focus and also took away a lot of my time. I wanted to do it as an experiment and to discover a different experience of acting, mouthing lines and reacting to lines you don't understand.I also got a chance to work with the biggest superstar of Telugu film industry Mahesh Babu so it was a good experience for me. The South Indian sensibilities are different from people in the Hindi film industry.But still, Vivah is a film and a role that's given me so much of positive equity among the masses and ultimately nobody can take that away from you. Even today when the film is aired on TV the TRP is soaring high.In fact, recently, when I was shooting in Jodhpur, I came out of my van and what I see is this the whole group of people waiting for me and calling me 'Poonam Poonam' I think for them I will always be their Poonam.Two of your biggest hits have been with Shahid Kapoor. Any plans to do more films with him since people feel you make a super pair?
Well, that's the best part about it because Shahid and myself also enjoy working with each other. To top it all, its very complimenting when people walk up and say 'Shahid- Amrita Super Hit jodi' because in this generation perhaps we are the only pair who have this 'Super Hit jodi' tag line.We have grown up watching SRK- Kajol, Aamir- Juhi, Anil- Maduri and Govinda- Karisma. It is very encouraging for both of us because when your audience actually wants to see you on-screen together then I think half of your battle is won, and its definitely an advantage.The industry has seen a lot of new talent like Ranbir, Harman, Imran, Sikander make their presence felt. What do you think of the new, emerging talent? Any of them that you would like to work with?I am working with Harman in Victory. I would certainly like to work with Ranbir, Imran. I think the Generation Next of Bollywood is stepping in and the young batch is just filling up.When Shahid and I had stepped in, the Gen-next had just about shown its presence, there were not enough actors of our age to work opposite and we both faced that situation initially. Now fortunately things are changing. The more the merrier. (Laughs) .