Yeh dosti hum nahi...

When we tell Abhishek Bachchan that Bipasha Basu's birthday is drawing near, the actor thanks us and reminds himself that he has to get a gift for his sexy co-star. "She is a great friend. Don't tell her that I forgot her birthday or else I will be in trouble," says AB's Baby, tongue-in-cheek. Shooting for a promotional video for his next release, Abhishek chats with CS about his co-actors and globe-trotting:


Who: Abhishek Bachchan
What: Talking about his co-stars and films
Where: At a five-star in Juhu

Bonding with buddies
Bipasha and my association goes back to my Refugee days. She had given a screen test with me for the role that ultimately went to Kareena. So, I always consider her as my first heroine. Though we didn't work together on the film, we did strike a good rapport. You can say that our careers have grown together. Over the years, Bipasha has blossomed into a lovely woman. She has no ego hassles and makes everyone around her feel comfortable. I really love that quality about her.

It's always fun to work with people you know. Bobby (Deol), Sonam (Kapoor) and I are 'Juhu buddies'. I have known Neil (Nitin Mukesh) since he was a kid. I didn't know Omi (Vaidya) before, but he's a good friend now. We worked out, dined and partied together. It was one cool gang. I always say that while we can't guarantee the success of a film, we can always ensure that people have a good time working on it. The atmosphere on the sets should be warm and cordial enough for everyone to feel comfortable and work better.

Masala magic
The films I did in the last three years had me in pretty serious roles. The characters were quite intense. I hadn't done any mainstream masala film per se. My upcoming films are all commercial ones, and I am having a blast working on them. Who said that Indian directors don't make good thriller films? You must understand that thriller films are the toughest to make. A good thriller needs a watertight screenplay, which is really tough to write. The most expensive of thriller films can fall flat on their face if they have chinks in their writing. Personally, I love thriller films. They are complete paisa vasool entertainment. Baazigar is one of my all time favourite flicks.u00a0

Around the world
One of the things I love best about my job is the opportunity to travel. While shooting for this film, we went to Mourmunsk, a small town just 100 kms from the Arctic Circle. It was in Siberia. Though I have seen a lot of snow in my life, Mourmunsk gave me a true picture about life in the North Pole.u00a0