• Tell me, 18 months in jail, and approximately that much time in rehab. What was tougher?

Definitely jail. In jail, you are confined. The main thing is being confined. But at the rehab centre, you were not confined. You were going out, but with the counselors, as a group. They used to take you to movies, to restaurants, to the lakeside. They believe in releasing you in the world very slowly.

• Who were you more scared of — Mom or Dad?

Dad.

• Not scared of Mom?

She used to love me too much.

• So did dad. He was a Punjabi.

He was a Punjabi. I was scared of him — out of respect.

• Were there times Dad screamed or gave you a jhapad?

Oh yes, many times.

• Tell me some.

When I told him about my drug addiction. My God, he fired the hell out of me!

• He didn’t know till then?

He doubted it. He doubted something was wrong. But when I told him, that was the time he really screamed. He was very upset with me. Any wrong film I did, he used to . . .

• Which film did he scream at you about?

Suppose I did a guest appearance, he used to get upset. He said, ‘Make your career first, then and start helping others.’ Which did make sense.

... contd.