MUMBAI: When Nawazuddin Siddiqui first learnt that he would be paired opposite Bollywood’s bong bombshell Bipasha Basu in Kumar Mangat Pathak’s ‘Aatma’, he had mixed reactions.

Reveals the actor that when he heard about the unique pairing, he first thought, “Oh my God, she is so fashionable and glamorous!” But soon Siddiqui felt uncertain.

However all his uncertainties were laid to rest when he met Bipasha Basu personally.
“When I started working with her, I realised that she is such a wonderful and easy-going co-actor. She surrenders herself totally and takes a call on the spot on how to react to a situation.”

Bipasha too, we hear, was super thrilled. “There has been a lot of buzz about our pairing as it is not regular. But there couldn’t have been a better choice than Nawaz. I had seen ‘Kahaani’ and his role of a cop stayed with me. He has got tremendous screen presence.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is known for exceptional performances in unconventional roles like ‘Faizal Khan’ in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ and ‘Temur’ in ‘Talaash’.

Interestingly, Nawazuddin is shorter than Bipasha, and sources tell us that the actor had to keep assuring the bong beauty that she could continue wearing her heels.

Admits Siddiqui, “You can call ours an unusual pairing perhaps because Bipasha is taller, but we shared a beautiful chemistry. She would remove her shoes during the shoot and I would tell her to keep wearing it.”

Talking about horror having become her trademark, Bipasha Basu says, “The genre is untapped in India. Earlier we would have B-grade and C-grade horror movies. If the story is great then fear can be entertaining. I would be a fool to refuse an author-backed role with an interesting storyline in this genre.”

‘Aatma’, produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak and directed by Suparn Verma is set to release on March 22, 2013.