“It’s just lucky that we've got to work with him," one unit hand told us, "He is so brilliant in the way he imagines and conceives the shot. His point of view is unique and it's something no one else could have thought of. He has his own vision."

Explaining how the director worked, he said, “There is a passion that filters through. He doesn’t speak Hindi, and on the sets he keeps two translators with him. But despite their presence, he insists on explaining shots himself. This became quite a task but amusing for the Hindi-speaking listeners."

Asked how he managed, the source said: "He would break up every sentence into words and then demonstrate it with the necessary action. He would go break-leg-injury-cry-pain etc. In this broken language he ensured that he delivered the brief clearly."

"While shooting for the film I realized that Mani sir himself is a big fan of Aiswarya's and she is the best thing in the film,” adds the source. What about Abhishek? "He's not bad either," the source said.

Abhishek’s character, Veera, is a Maoist leader of downtrodden villagers in eastern Madhya Pradesh.

- Starboxoffice.com