At the Yash Raj Films’ canteen, debutant director Jugal Hansraj purrs in excitement about his forthcoming animation movie, ‘Roadside Romeo’. The boyish smile and light green eyes still hold a charm. Sweet. “With the release barely two weeks away, I have been practically living at YRF, you know?” he laughs.

By the walkway of the manicured gardens, Hansraj narrates the genesis of the project. “I am an animation-film buff, and Adi (producer Aditya Chopra) knows it. So when he planned a high-end animation film for YRF, I was his first choice. Initially, I was only to write the script, but then he insisted that I direct as well,” he gesticulates.

‘Roadside Romeo’ is the story of how Romeo, a pet dog in an affluent household, becomes a stray overnight when the family decides to shift out. Pampered all his life, Romeo feels helpless on the streets till he falls for Laila, a canine beauty, and then fights the bully Anna Charlie. The voiceover is given by Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey.

“When I thought up the characters, I just knew Romeo had to be Saif, for Romeo is street smart and has style. Laila is a diva, and who else would’ve portrayed her better than Kareena?” says Hansraj, who was last seen in ‘Aaja Nachle’. Jaffrey was a natural choice for “he is a versatile actor and would sound great in animation”.

Over tea, he explains how the production work of an animation movie differs from that of a regular one. “An animation film is made backwards,” he says. The dubbing happens first. The actors enact the dialogue during the recording, which is used as reference for expressions of the characters. Then the toil begins. “We spend months getting right the expression in each frame. And one change in the frame takes a week for completion as the whole frame needs to be redone,” he says. The songs, which are catching on, were done in 10 days flat, he boasts. “And, I’ve got Saif and Javed sing a hip-hop number too!” Does the man, who has glorified pets, have any? “Well, now I do.” Touché.