Not many know that actress Shabana Azmi and filmmaker J.P. Dutta are not just colleagues but were in college together and know each other since then.

Shabana, who is playing Aishwarya Rai's mother in Dutta's "Umrao Jaan", revealed quite a few interesting things about her director friend. She said Dutta is a very fine actor and they acted together in several dramas those days.

Shabana said that although the director appears tough, he is soft within. Many others who know him closely say he can give a complex to any doctor by his clear diagnosis. Normally, Dutta himself diagnoses the illness if anyone falls sick in his unit.

However, Shabana is bowled over by his kindness.

Recalling an incident on the sets of "Umrao Jaan", she said that one day she had pain in her back and the director cancelled the shooting without a second thought.