/> Dolly Ahluwalia is one of Indian cinema's leading costume designers. She has done the clothes for Vishal Bhardwaj's Omkara, Deepa Mehta's Water and Midnight's Children. Currently she's working on Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor's clothes in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Run Milkha Run.

Acting is an abiding passion. Having done bit roles she's suddenly come into focus with her role as Ayushmann Khurrana's harried working-mother and defiant-but-doting-Bahu in Vicky Donor.

Laughs Dolly joyously, "Though I'm known more for designing clothes I'm a gold medalist in acting from the National School Of Drama. I've done sporadic roles. But I've stayed away from Bollywood because I couldn't follow their way of working. The Hindi film industry has its own clock. Actors wait patiently for hours for a shot. I couldn't do that. I admire those who can. "

Dolly was in Sri Lanka working on the clothes of Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children when she got a call from Shoojit Sircar about the role in Vicky Donor.

"He said I was the first actor he was casting for the film. Even the film's writer Juhi Chaturvedi said the same thing. I was elated. When I read the script I was over the moon.

What an opportunity for me as an actor! More than myself I'm so happy for my director Shoojit Sircar. He has waited so long for this to happen to his career. "

Dolly also played a part in Shoojit's first film Yahaan 8 years ago.

About her screen-Saas Kamlesh Gill. Dolly says fondly, "We really came to care about one another. We're now bonded beyond just the film. She is like a real mom.

We wanted to show how a bickering Saas-Bahu can actually be like a mother and daughter after a few pegs. Ayushmaan and Yami Gautam, I've known from the time I was in Chandigarh. So we all felt like a part of the family. "

There were apprehensions about whether the Saas-Bahu's drinking sessions would go down well with the audience. "But to our good fortune our bonding including the drinking has been appreciated. "

Dolly's character is based on the director Shoojit Sircar's own mother. Shoojit used to share a drink with his widowed mother, as it made her sleep better.

Dolly is married to actor Kamal Tiwari who played Kareena Kapoor's father in Omkara and Jab We Met. Kamal is a trained Hindustani singer.

For now it's back to clothes for Dolly. "I had to dress up over 3, 000 characters in Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children. I like to recreate another era through my clothes.

Even when I did Madhuri Dixit's comeback film I did only the clothes for the Laila-Majnu stage performance. What's the point of doing contemporary clothes? You can buy them off the shelf. Now I'm looking forward to desiging clothes for me and my screen-saas Kamleshji at the awards function next year. "