On a film set, if you are a part of the labour class, the food you get is different; a separate table is set for you. You are not entitled to drink mineral water - Fawzan Husain : Bollywood News

Any other problems and challenges with this project?

Access was the biggest problem. You shoot Holi, Muharram whatever, nobody asks questions. But here the biggest problem is to get the producer or director to understand what you want.

Pritish Nandy understood, Tanuja Chandra also gave me a free hand, but Madhur Bhandarkar did not. He thinks you are a press guy so shoot and go! I explained that I want to understand the character of the set. Understand the people and then I gradually get inside the circuit. I may not even get a picture on the first day. Madhur was surprised to see me the second day and he said, I cant let you hang around my set.

Govind Nihalani, who is a cameraman himself, understands your and his requirements. It was a great experience working with him. His style, I find, is camera perfect. I also found Naseeruddin Shah and his cinematographer Hemant Chaturvedi very meticulous in their approach and would like to work with them again. While with Madhur, his USP is research, his camerawork is crass. If he doesnt understand camerawork, he wont understand a cameraman and his requirements.

Sriram Raghavan was a big help too, and he gave me full access and co-operation on his sets of Johnny Gadar.

Once a star is on the sets everybody reacts; there is a sudden churning on the set. My focus is on that reaction, not on the star.

These days Bollywood people are so wary of photographers. I make them understand my project, some relent and I was grateful for their help and support. But many refused, especially the big banners. So I see it as a challenge, especially since I dont need stars. I notice that once a star is on the sets everybody reacts; there is a sudden churning on the set. My focus is on that reaction, not on the star.

"On a film set, if you are a part of the 'labour' class, the food you get is different; a separate table is set for you. You are not entitled to drink mineral water" - Fawzan Husain