No rift between Sanjay Dutt and Madhu Shalini

Even though media is abuzz with stories making the rounds around all not being well between Sanjay Dutt and new entrant Madhu Shalini over an 'issue' of a dance number in DEPARTMENT, the girl insists that all is indeed well. In fact she has nothing but fond memories of working in the film since from her childhood days she had been waiting for the day when she would get an opportunity to deliver her lines in front of Dutt.

Apparently the young actress was self admittedly quite nervous since she had built a set perception around the senior actor, courtesy his on-screen image. 'When I met Dutt for the first time, honestly I was totally star struck and didn't know how to react. I have been a huge fan of him for years and always wanted to know how he is in real life,' says Madhu, ''There was so much mental build up I ended up making that I became all the more conscious when I came face to face opposite him.''

No wonder, it was his brooding image from the days of KHALNAYAK that hit her really hard when the day of reckoning arrived.


''Yes, I had this KHALNAYAK image of his in my mind ever since my childhood days. Of course at the end of the day he was just playing a role but come on, who is not a film buff here? You like to take characters home and for me it is Ballu (KHALNAYAK) and Raghu (VAASTAV) that have stayed on forever,' confesses the mild mannered girl-woman.

She had to put together her act in a jiffy since there are quite a few scenes in which she and Dutt come together. This means that after an initial phase of sheer fan gazing, Madhu did manage to gather herself and deliver her lines. 'He is so sweet and it's a pleasure to be with him. I now know firsthand how he manages to make women go weak in their knees. I wasn't an exception either,' she says shyly.