Rani Mukerji looks refreshing in her new film Saathiya.

The film, a remake of the Tamil hit Alaipayuthey by Mani Rathnam releases on December 20 and Rani has pinned a lot of hopes on the film. In the meantime she is also starting professional performances of Odissi soon after finishing shooting for Shah Rukh Khan’s Chalte Chalte. Excerpts from an interview:

Tell us about Saathiya.

It is a love story of two common people in a huge city. Love can happen to a simple boy and girl in a busy life. That is the crux of the story.

I play a medical student called Suhani in the film, who doesn’t believe in love and thinks that it is a waste of time. But then even she falls in love.

The film is about what love means before and after marriage. There are a lot of youngsters who fall in love and get married at an early age without realising what the implications of marriage are. So in that sense it is a simple story of two people.

How far did you relate to Suhani?

I play a medical student in the film. At that age girls are not really interested in settling down. They want to use their education well. Suhani was again trying to fight her natural feeling. The film again does not preach about marriage. It just shows what exactly happens. Lot of things in the film have been underplayed.

Sounds more like the Hrishikesh Mukherjee school of filmmaking…

If it does and looks like films made by Hrishida, it is certainly a compliment to Shaad. He has worked hard on the film to give it that simplicity.

Agreed that Mani Rathnam has done the story and the screenplay, but Shaad’s work is commendable.

Wouldn’t comparisons with Alaipayuthey be inevitable?

It may be so. But this is a different film with different artistes. The flavour of Saathiya is different from that of Alaipayuthey. It will have its feel, but not the soul.

In the film, both of you are often shown travelling in trains and buses. How often have you done that in real life?

I used to study at SNDT College, Juhu and had a pocket allowance of Rs 50 a month. Whatever I had to do was within that amount.

I could go by autorickshaw sometimes, but then, I had to travel by bus many a times. None of my friends had cars, leave aside a license.

And then there were times when we had to travel up town, which we did by train. So when I was shooting the train and bus sequences for Saathiya, it brought back nostalgic memories of my college days.

How was the experience travelling by train all over again?

We were shooting on live sound hence it was important that the sound was controlled properly. There was so much background noise and all that had to be taken care of when we were shooting.

You are starting Odissi performances soon…

I have been into Odissi for over a decade now. I started around the time I was in standard X. I started dancing with Meenakshi Seshadri. My guru Pandit Ravindra Attibuthi has also taught Meenakshi and Hema Malini.

I did a show at Mathura in September. Now after I am through shooting for Shah Rukh Khan’s Chalte Chalte, I should be starting dancing again. Hopefully, I will have a show in Mumbai too.