Vidhu Vinod Chopra has decided to rename his Yagna as Eklavya, after the character that Amitabh Bachchan plays in the film.

After completing the initial shooting for Karan Johar's Kabhi Alavidaa Na Kehna, Bachchan flew to Rajasthan to flag off Eklavya, née Yagna, with a rigorous script reading; the film's second lead, Saif Ali Khan, also flew down to join him.

Says Saif, "In my misplaced confidence, I always thought I had a good voice... until I heard Mr Bachchan reading out his lines — I died! No matter how much you've heard about his famous baritone, it's still not enough to prepare you for the way he uses his voice."

Saif has never worked with Bachchan before. "In my twelve years in the industry, we've never been together.

I'm trying to get over my awe of the man so I can work with him comfortably. I'm trying to recreate the image in my mind of how he must have worked at 35 with a senior... say, Mr Dilip Kumar in Shakti.

That's how I'd like to behave while sharing screen space with him. It doesn't get any bigger than him," Saif had said in Mumbai, two days before leaving for the desert state — girlfriend Rosa is scheduled to join him later in the month.

Saif is again paired with Parineeta heroine Vidya Balan. Elaborating on the film's sand-swept ambience, he says, "Most of our films set in the deserts of Rajasthan are family films based on feudal fury — Eklavya is a thriller, and that's what makes it so exciting."

Parineeta director Pradeep Sarkar is collaborating with Eklavya's cinematographer to give the film a specific look. "I've never worked in a film like this before," concludes Saif.