We have similar food tastes,” says director Arif Ali of his elder brother, writer and director Imtiaz Ali. Somehow, the conversation that has to be about  the second season of Netflix thriller She, which Imtiaz has created and written, and Arif has directed, has become about the cuisine that Mumbai is home to and isn’t. “We share the same opinion—the North has better food, but we need to find a few places and then be happy within that,” says Arif. Surprisingly, this attitude is also reflected in the rest of the conversation, which is about the brothers believing in the same philosophy—do the best you can, and then just put it out in the universe.

When it comes to She, a story about a woman constable who goes undercover as a sex worker to bust a kingpin no one has seen, the two seem to be in sync as well. The second season is about the lead, Bhumi, played by actress Aaditi Pohankar, coming into her own, realising the power of her sexuality, and how she can use it to gain control over others. “That’s what I find most fascinating about the second season—the fact that she uses it now like a weapon,” says Imtiaz. The two brothers often look at each other before they answer questions, almost taking unspoken permission, a courtesy that may have helped them through the making of the show. “Imtiaz pays attention to the details, while I am more macro. He has written certain things the way he sees them… there is a comma, or a full stop, because of a reason. And he wants it a certain way. We have had to change some scenes, because he didn’t think they were true to what he wanted. And I am okay with that—at the end of the day, it’s his vision.” Imtiaz gets it, but says that as showrunner, he was responsible for the final product, unlike a project where he may have just written a script and handed it off. We remind him of the time when we pointed out discrepancies in Homi Adajania’s Cocktail, which he wrote. The film didn’t share his vision. “Yes, but with Arif I can say anything, and know that I am not being judged. I can’t impress him, and I can’t fool him. He knows it all. So when I am signing off on something, it has to be absolutely right. A scene, a moment, a dialogue… is all there for a reason. Or else let’s chop it off completely.” Arif laughs when we ask if he wants to give his elder brother some “feedback” on his process. “There are times where what he may have written, could be different. He spent two hours on one scene, I spent many on the recce, and the preparation. I thought that maybe this could be different. But sometimes, he is obstinate about it. And it [the scene] eventually got cut on the editing table!”