Kal Penn plays your son in the movie. How was he to work with and what kind of a bond did you develop with him during the film?
Kal Penn is born and brought up in America. He had the attitude needed for the role. Having done only comic roles there, Kal knew this was his big chance and he put everything into the role. He had flown from Los Angeles to meet Mira at his own expense to give an audition. Mira was blown with his audition. At (Kal's character) Gogol's age, when one is exploring life you are too occupied with it. You don't see another's opinion. It happens to most of us in our youth.
Sometimes I had to manipulate my interactions with others on the set depending on the script. Kal was respectful towards me. I never tried to take it further as it helped me portray that communication gap we need to show between the two in the film. I never wanted to make it too friendly or familiar, so I never tried to show the affection I felt for him.
You have worked with Tabu in Maqbool earlier. How different was it working with her in a Hollywood production?
In Namesake, Tabu and I are playing silent lovers who don't need to convey their feelings to one another and are comfortable with each other. In Maqbool, the silence was volatile; it had too much in it.
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