How is Mausam shaping up?

I have come into my own in Mausam, I think. I have really been educated by Pankaj (Kapur) Sir in a lot of ways. I have learnt how to deal with tough situations through Mausam. My character’s name is Aayat. She is a Kashmiri Muslim. And she has gone through a lot of tough times... seeing her house getting destroyed and losing a lot of her family. She comes down to Chandigarh and she meets this boy. She goes through a lot of loss, at the same time she is this very still person. But you realise that still waters run very deep. She has a lot of emotions in her, a lot of love in her. But she is not a volatile person. She is very calm, smooth and happy.

She just loves this one man (Shahid Kapoor) and wants to be with him. So she waits for him. She doesn’t lose hope despite the hardship she has gone through.

What are your favourite Pankaj Kapur films? What tips did he share with you?

I guess Dharm and Maqbool… two brilliant films. What he taught me was patience. He was going through a lot of hassles during the making of Mausam. But he never lost sight of what he was supposed to do — make a beautiful film. What I learned from him was never to compromise on your work and be very patient. And good things come to good people and if you work hard enough, things just happen.

How different are the father and the son?

Shahid is extremely hard-working, extremely intelligent. But he is a completely different actor from Pankaj Sir. They are two very different people. Shahid is more used to the new-age way of working. He wants everything to be done quickly. He wants to walk fast and he wants to talk fast because that’s how we naturally do it. But Pankaj Sir takes his time doing everything. So, in the first 10 months, maybe they had a little bit of like… trying to adjust with each other… but eventually Shahid got it because he is such a quick learner... so respectful of his father.