Clueless about love: Imtiaz Ali

While all four were obviously excited about Love Aaj Kal hitting the screens soon,Padukone confessed that she was rather surprised about how realistic the characters in it were. She said she found it quite odd that Ali had carved her character,Meera,close to the person she really is. “I would often look at him during the shoot and say,how did you know this about me? And he would just reply: it’s not you Deepika,it’s Meera,” she recounted.

Ali admitted that the character of modern day,Jai,is similar to the hyperactive,forever talkative Khan. And the actor agreed. “I’m always thinking a million things and I talk at the same time as I think. Jai is just that kind of guy and so I found it really easy to play him.” The 39-year-old actor also plays another character,a Sikh by the name of Veer,in the movie. “I had so much fun playing Veer,which is set in the 1960s. The rustic setting of Patiala and having to don a turban there helped me get into the character,” he said.

Facing the media did not stop the four from taking potshots at each other in good humour. “Saif’s mind is always thinking so fast that he himself does not understand what’s going on in his head sometimes,” joked Ali. “But seriously,the ideas that he comes up with are good,and trust me when I say that he’s a lot more intelligent than he looks.”

Ali’s previous films Socha Na Tha and the acclaimed Jab We Met have tended towards strong,central female characters and Vijan attributed this to the director’s love for women. And Ali reaffirmed that when he said,“Women are so fascinating that I can’t stop observing them they’re much more intelligent than men,I feel.”