Had Shuddhi not been shelved, Kalank would have been your fifth film with Alia Bhatt. Was it purely coincidental that both of you have been approached for the same projects?
Our careers have been a play of destiny. Alia was not part of Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014) initially. In fact, Kalank was planned before Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017), but we couldn't lock the rest of the cast. Things have never been in our control, but this helped us develop an organic relationship. There's some magic [in our on-screen chemistry], that's why filmmakers cast us together.

Do you train to build this on-screen chemistry that people rave about?
Some things just happen over a period of time. While we are aware that the audience likes to see us together, we don't take [the adulation] for granted. In all our collaborations, our focus has been to outdo the previous performance, which is a lot of hard work. We try to change the [flavour] of the chemistry and since Alia knows her craft well, as a co-actor, it helps me up my game.