/> Rani who plays a spicy tart in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya is thrilled to be part of the film. For her the director and his mother are family.

"I don't want our friendship to get buri nazar (the evil eye). So I'd rather not talk about it much. I'm a prominent part of Sanjay's life and movies. We're always there for one another.

Even if Sanjay asked me to walk across a frame and finish with my role, I'd happily do it.Even that one frame would be immortal. We're very comfortable in each other's company. We pour our hearts out to one another.

The first role he ever offered me was Bajirao Mastani. That didn't materialize.When I invited him home he quipped, 'Since you aren't doing my film there's no point in our lunch.'

I think our friendship started there. After that we spent a lot of time together for the reading and rehearsals of Black. That's when we really bonded. I'm glad our bonding has outlasted all the games of showbiz."

Unlike Black where she featured in the pivotal role, Rani 's role in Saawariya is not pivotal.

"The actors don't choose the role. It's the other way around. I've implicit faith in Sanjay's vision. I'm lucky to have got such a variety of roles. In Saawariya I do something I've never done before. In both my films with Sanjay I was hesitant.

He insisted nobody else could do them. If you compare it to my role in Black, then Saawariya was far less daunting. But I've never played anything like this prostitute in Saawariya before.

I think Sanjay loves to challenge me as an actress. That thrills him and me. I've realized Sanjay finds me a far superior actor than I think of myself. I think he believes in me more than I do.

There're times when he gave me a scene which I thought I couldn't do. He thought I could."

After playing the central character in so many of her recent films was it hard to let two newcomers take centrestage in Saawariya?

"I didn't look at it that way. Having said that, let me tell you I wouldn't do the same role for any other filmmaker. This is my family film. He had already cast Sonam and Ranbir when I came into picture. One day we were talking and he said he was really missing me in the film.

It was then that he offered this role because he couldn't bear to do the film in my absence. That's the kind of confidence and love I find so encouraging. I immediately agreed.

It doesn't matter what he offered me. Salman and me in Saawariya are like family supporting a collective endeavour. We didn't care about the length of our roles."

Once she agreed to do the golden-hearted prostitute's role in Saawariya she gave herself wholeheartedly to it. "Sanjay's love and passion for his work are so infectious. And I 'm fond of Sonam.

I'm very close to her mother. But there're things she can't tell her parents. She pours her heart out to me. I'm always there to guide her. She's a very very good child.

As for Ranbir, I haven't spent that much time off-camera with him. He's a shy well brought-up kids. I'm too close to the project and these youngsters to talk about them."

Rani left for LA and Bangkok after the premiere of Saawariya.