As told to Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 15, 2020)

I stayed with him for 18 months while he was prepping for M S Dhoni - The Untold Story. Once he strained his muscle and was advised not to train for four weeks, but to my surprise he recovered within a week and joined us again for the practice. I always knew he was the right choice to play Dhoni. An introvert, our conversations revolved around his career. He was steeped in the character.

We often met in the gym and during the promotions of Raabta, I invited him for the IPL finals. He was passionate about cricket and came to watch several matches in Chennai. We had lost twice, he broke the jinx and we won.