SRK goes house-hunting

Shooting for Billoo Barber in Pollachi was not easy for Lara Dutta. The actress, who has returned from Delhi after receiving the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial award, says it was one of the most difficult schedules of her life.

We actors are quite spoilt as far as basic comforts go. Forget luxury hotels, there were no decent accommodations in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu. It was just very basic."

Billoo producer Shah Rukh Khan is obliged to Lara for stepping in for the project when every leading lady from Bipasha to Ameesha turned him down. The actress reveals that he took charge of Lara's accommodation.

"When Shah Rukh got to know there were no proper hotels in Pollachi, he personally made inquiries about where I could stay. He found out about this super old plantation-styled South Indian home where we'd be comfortable. SRK himself scouted around personally for this place. He then went to the house and checked it out before we moved there. It was really sweet. No producer would do this. They'd make you stay in whatever was available. SRK was fabulous."

To add to her woes, Lara also found a huge poisonous snake in her room one day. "I'm not really scared of snakes. I've come across some in my time. But the whole surprise and excitement of finding one was quite something."

The worst was yet to come. Says Lara, "We couldn't travel by car or bus. We had to travel on a tractor. The locals had a field day watching me and Shah Rukh swish by, in a tractor. It was quite an experience for me to travel in a tractor in a sari, an entertainment beyond the screen," Lara laughs heartily.

All this roughing out was just what Lara's role required. "These things keep you on your toes as an actor." Billoo Barber was a first for Lara on many counts, "I had never worked with Shah Rukh or Irrfan Khan. It's essentially Irrfan's film. He's such a subtle actor, I had to change my acting style completely."