The camaraderie that mirrors the emotions of the lead pair is usually what two makers are trying to capture. But what happens when there is no camaraderie to write home about? Usually the hero and the heroine don’t work together. Take the case of Salman and Priyanka who somehow started off on a wrong foot and despite having a super hit ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’ behind them, they never really worked together.

The only other film they did was ‘Salaam-e-Ishq’ which could have been easily avoided. Priyanka went out of her way to ensure that Salman received the Olive branch she had extended and she also realized that this was a professional decision that would definitely make her inch her way on the success ladder.

But what happens when the industry standing of the hero is much lower than that of the heroine. In a male dominated industry this seems to be a rarity but there are exceptions to every rule. There was a time when Shilpa Shirodkar had refused to work with newcomer Shah Rukh Khan.

Even Mumtaz’s refusal to work with Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Zanjeer’ was legendary. But on every such occa-sion there was a Jaya Bachchan or Juhi Chawla who came to the rescue of the hapless newcomer and offered all help when the other divas wanted to play it safe.

No one would be entirely honest if they say they were not surprised when Preity worked with Shiney Ahuja in ‘Har Pal’. Picky Preity Zinta has had a track record of going through her scripts with a fine tooth comb unless the producers were Yashraj or Karan Johar where she made an exception and trusted their creativity blindly. ‘Har Pal’ was one of the first films that the actress had signed, which did not belong to the above-mentioned banners and did not star Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan or Abhishek Bachchan in the lead.

But Shiney Ahuja was one of the most promising newcomers that season had thrown up. His work in ‘Hazaron Khwahishein Aisi’ and ‘Gangster’ had definitely made him one of the names to watch out for. All the early success had made Shiney super confident and the industry does view this as personality impairment.

“Shiney’s reputation preceded him,” we were informed by a unit member on grounds of anonymity, “And Preity was aware that everyone thought he was cocky but to give the actress her due she consciously decided not to come to the project with any preconceived notions. I remember her telling us that she wanted to make her own opinions and impressions out of her own experiences.”

One and a half year later if the same unit member is to be believed Preity has had several impressions through experience which have all been unfortunate ones. When the film began, the duo kept their conversations to the bare minimum. “But it was on the sets during shots that the problems began when Shiney, in a very round about way, wanted all acting nuances to be artily done. He would declare out rightly that this was not a regular commercial venture, very obviously hinting at Ms. Zinta.”

Her maturity must have tided Preity through this phase. She was very clear in her mind that she was looking for critical acclaim now and she has signed this lot of films whether it was ‘The Last Lear’ directed by Rituparno Ghosh or ‘Har Pal’ to hone her skills in a different space. It was a personal challenge that she would not let anyone keep her from achieving.