• But you have that special gift of slipping into the skin, into that ethnicity, that personality, but going beyond the stereotype.

Well, you know, the stereotype does bother me. I think after a while you stop worrying about just the ethnicity and the accent and the body language and breaking the stereotype. Maybe it's the fact the character is of a particular profession. Once you have got all that worked out, you start concentrating on human nature. At the end of the day, you could be a Sardar builder and I could be a Sardar builder, and we could be completely two different human beings.

• It's easy to change into a Sardar's garb, but to get the subtleties right, such as, most Punjabis wouldn't say "Is so and so there?", they'll say, "So and so is there?" You got that right.

If you do your homework right, you get a little more marks in an exam. Unfortunately, when you work on a character, there's no syllabus, no three books you operate out of. The world is your oyster. So you are always going to be unprepared.

• How did you get that one right, that particular character?

I really don't know. You observe, make mental notes, you make little notes on a television camera by turning it on people.

• How did you figure out how a Sikh businessman functions?

There's this Sikh who runs a motor repair shop in Dadar, so I thought it was best to pitch a tent there and spend time with him. You have to have at least 30-40 cups of tea, because they don't take 'No' for an answer, always telling you, 'Chai piyogey.'

... contd.