On his birthday on Aug 16, Mahesh Manjrekar was at peace with himself. "I've finished all pending assignments. Now there's just 'Viruddh' which I feel, will be the best work I've done.

"The Amitabh Bachchan-Sharmila Tagore starrer is said to be a performers' platform. "Amitji is outstanding. As for Sharmila Tagore, you've never seen her like this before," promised Mahesh.

His new, experimental one-actor film "Struggler" has got itself into censor trouble. The censor board has asked him to make serious cuts. But Mahesh isn't relenting. He'll be making an appeal to the tribunal.

Meanwhile, his "Rakht" is ready for release later this week. Abhishek Bachchan's item song "One love" has caught on like wildfire while he is away in Calgary shooting for Anubhav Sinha's "Dus".