Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 30, 2017)

The prolific Neena Gupta and inimitable Jackie Shroff have paired up for the first time for Sonam Nair’s short film, Khujli. They play a middle-aged couple trying to spice up their sex life.

The film’s prologue reads: “They say married people should be wary of the seven-year itch. But what happens when Girdharilal and Roopmati decide to scratch a 25-year-old itch? Secret desires come out... things can’t help but get a little kinky.”

Nair says, “My sense of humour has always been connected to sexual situations. People make a big deal of it, but I think of it from a funny perspective. There’s a lot of humour in this, but we don’t approach it right in this country. Neenaji’s humour is understated and sarcastic. Jaggu dada is also subtle. That’s how the pairing worked.”

But, it was a challenge for her to convince Jackie to go between the sheets. “Jaggu dada loved the script, but then developed cold feet. He panicked thinking he wouldn’t be able to bring the right hue of humour to the film.”

Together the actors were quite a handful. “The two are poles apart, but got along too well. There came a point when I had to ask them to cut out the fun and get to work.”