Sonam Kapoor is no stranger to Hyderabad

Shooting for Saawariya has proved to be a comfortable and fun experience for debutant Sonam Kapoor as the director was her old boss, hero a childhood friend and the two super stars in the film turned out to be charming and supportive towards her.

Talking about her amazing experience on sets Sonam says, "The training that I got while assisting Sanjay Sir in Black behind the camera, helped me pick up the nuances of acting and the small technical details proved to be very useful when I was performing before the camera. Moreover my boss remained the same, so there was no major shift in work ethics or style that I was used to." Confessing that Bhansali is like a parent Sonam praises Rani Mukherji and Salman Khan too. "Rani was very supportive and she is my favourite actress besides Sridevi.

Salman is also a charming and sensitive man and it was wonderful to be in the same movie with them," she gushes. While Sonam shares a great rapport with Ranbir Kapoor, her co-actor in the film, she says that she did not hang out with star kids during her childhood. "I studied at Arya Vidya Mandir, a school with strict middle-class values. My mother encouraged me to lead a normal life and therefore I hardly hung out with star kids."

Sonam appears to get on well with most people, but fellow newcomer Deepika Padukone is said to bring out her competitive side. Is it true? Sonam rubbishes this rumoured rivalry. "I do not know her, so where is the question of being rivals? I think she is very beautiful and I liked her as a model," she says.

Deepika, she might not know well, but Hyderabad is familiar territory. Sonam who was in town to promote her film says she is no stranger to the city and has lost count of the number of times she has been here on previous occasions. "Right from my childhood I have been visiting the city. My father, Anil Kapoor has shot here for many of his films and had even done a Telugu movie. I have lots of close friends in town and keep on visiting the city," she says adding, "I really love shopping for Indian clothes and accessories especially in the Old City. The chudi bazaar is one of my favourite places. Also the zari work available here is fabulous. My mother shops for antique furniture in the city and I love them as well."