On the second day of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2026, R Balki had a chat with celebrity anchor Gaurav Sharma, known as SharmaG, about his first film, Cheeni Kum (2007), during a session called “Food!
Camera! Action!” held in a bar in South Mumbai. After the conversation, the film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu was shown. R Balki entertained the audience by talking about the drama that happened on the first day of the shoot.
The very first scene of the film was shot on the first day of the shoot.
R Balki said, “The camera started rolling and Amit ji delivered his lines. I told him, ‘Amit ji, can we do it again?’ He asked, ‘Why?’ I asked him to tone down the intensity because it was too loud. He looked at me and said, ‘Loud?’ He then did another take, but in the same way. I made the same gesture again. He did it the same way again. Finally, he said, ‘Let’s move on to the next shot.’ I made the same gesture again. He was angry and repeated the same shot for the fourth time. Realizing I wasn’t happy, he shouted, ‘What do you want me to do? Do you want me to act and deliver my lines?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He looked at me seriously.”
R Balki added, “He did the shot the way I wanted, without any expression.
After I said ‘Cut,’ he left the set. I thought he was going home. His costume designer came and said, ‘Amit ji wants to speak with you.’ I went out, expecting he would say this was not the right way to make a film. But he said, ‘I now understand the film.’”
He remarked, “If I had just said, ‘Great, Amit ji,’ he would have given the film a completely different feel.
He just wanted to know the mood I wanted. Once he got that, he gave it to me. From then on, I never had to explain anything to him. He would tell Tabu, ‘No expression. Just stand and deliver what’s written. That’s the film!’”
R Balki also talked about working with Zohra Sehgal.
“Zohra ji was very beautiful. Amit ji arrived on the set and warmly greeted her. Everyone became quiet because of Mr Bachchan, but he became quiet in front of Zohra ji! During their first take together, when Amit ji started speaking, she said, ‘Amit, that’s wrong, wrong, wrong. You missed a word.’ She had memorized both her lines and his. I told Zohra ji, ‘You should come to the sets every day. Then he’ll do his work properly,’ (laughs).”
He shared, “At the end of the shoot, she said, ‘You can’t end the day with tea.’
She made us go to her room, where we all had whiskey! She told us, ‘I have one drink every day.’ Until she was 95, she had one glass every day (smiles).”
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