Getting top-of-the-line actors for a film is not an easy task, but Karan Johar makes it look effortless. For his Diwali release, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil that opens in cinemas on October 28, the filmmaker cast Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and Fawad Khan, and sailed through the shoot without a glitch, an argument or an ounce of creative difference with any of his leading actors.

Ranbir rewinds, “We never really had arguments. If Karan didn't like something that we were doing or if I had to tell him that something is not working, he would accept it. He welcomes creative inputs from his actors. If there is a problem, 99 per cent of the time, he fixes it in minutes.“

Karan adds, “Ranbir has solid suggestions as an artiste, and eight out of ten are amazing. Ditto for me. It takes a good actor and instinctive artiste to point out stupidity, if at all. And Anushka is like a script police. She's full of questions, like why is Alizeh (her character) doing this. While shooting, we would talk about the character deeply because Ae Dil Hai Mushkil has got characters saying and doing things that we do in our regular lives.“