Workshop For The Amitabh Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone

Big B may be by far the most iconic star-actor of our cinema. That doesn't stop him from undertaking rehearsals like a newcomer for Shoojit Sircar's Piku where the mega-star will share screen space with Irrfan Khan for the first time.

Though Irrfan's schedules too are choc-a-bloc—he'll be shooting simultaneously in Mumbai and LA—he too has agreed to participate in the acting workshops for Piku. Says a source close to the project, "This is the first time when Irrfan would be sharing screen space with the Big B. He's understandably excited and challenged. He asked Shoojit to create a comfort level between the two specially since the Big B and Irrfan share very intense dramatic sequences in Piku."

Shoojit says it wasn't easy getting the 4 principal actors to spare time for the workshops. "Bachchan Saab, Irrfan, Deepika and Jisshu Sengupta are all extremely busy actors. But they had absolutely no hesitation in slicing precious meat out of their fat schedules to go through the rehearsals."

Shoojit believes workshops are specially important in this film. "It is a very real drama, the emotions are not cinematic. The feelings expressed have to be absolutely authentic. Luckily I've actors who are more than willing to surrender completely to the project.They have been told that we cannot start shooting unless we do the workshops. They're all joining me for workshops for a couple of weeks before we begin shooting at the end of July."