I couldn't let Shyam sir down

Minissha Lamba has just returned from a gruelling one month outdoor schedule of WELL DONE ABBA. Though she is chilling out at the moment and catching up with friends and family, she looks back quite fondly on working with director Shyam Benegal.“Much before beginning to shoot for the film, I was sure about one thing that I couldn’t let Shyam sir down”, says Minissha with respect in her voice for the veteran film maker, “Here I was working with a man who has been directing for 35 years now so I had to be nothing but perfect with my performance.”With such a senior person calling the shots, wasn’t it intimidating to take directions from him?“Honestly, it wasn’t intimidating because Shyam sir is a pro in working with actors. He knows how to take care of them and extract the best out of them. This is why I didn’t even know how an entire month passed by and the shooting got over. More than him calling the shots, what was really unnerving was the kind of immense pressure that I had put myself into. For me, every day was a challenge as I had to give my very best”, she shoots off.“With such an ensemble cast in the film, you have to be on your toes all the time. There were some scenes in particular which were quite challenging and I didn’t really know where I was and what was I doing. But as I said, Shyam sir gets it going for his actors at the end of the day. I can only say that working in WELL DONE ABBA was an educative trip for me and I only came back a little more well versed in cinema”, signs off Minissha.With Boman Irani playing the title role of ‘Abba’ and Minissha Lamba as his daughter, the film also stars Sameer Dattani (as Minissha’s love interest), Ravi Kishan, Ila Arun, Salim Ghouse, Sonali Kulkarni, Rajit Kapoor, Yashpal Sharma and Ravi Jhankal. A BIG Pictures production, the film has lyrics by Swanand Kirkire, Ila Arun and Ashok Mishra with music by Shantanu Moitra.

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