Helen Mirren is my Smita Patil: Om Puri

Mumbai: Om Puri, who will be sharing the screen space with veteran British actress Helen Mirren in `The Hundred-Foot Journey`, has compared the `Queen` star with Smita Patil.`The Hundred-Foot Journey` is an upcoming American comedy-drama directed by Lasse Hallstrom. The film stars Mirren, Manish Dayal, Juhi Chawla and Puri.

"The special thing in this film would be that I am acting with Helen Mirren and they fall in love with each other. She is my Smita Patil," Puri said. The film will have a romantic angle between Puri, 63, and Mirren. "It (film) has senior citizens` love angle which is tender and compassionate. There is no sexuality in it. We also danced together... We did Waltz. I was very nervous as I am not a dancer. But we moved well. She helped me," the actor said. Off screen, Puri and Mirren shared a good rapport but there was no conversation on films as such. "She had admiration for me. She is a wonderful co-star. I cooked meal for her two-three times and she loved the Indian food. We were living far from each other, she was living in the countryside, I was living in the city (while shooting in France). It was quite a distance. So whatever chat we had was on the sets during free time," Puri said. Ace Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, American talk show host-actress-producer Oprah Winfrey and TV-film producer Juliet Blake are producing the film, set to release on August 8. "I still haven`t met him (Steven Spielberg). He did not come on the sets. Only Oprah Winfrey was there... She had come for three days. She is a very nice, pleasant person. She greets you in Hindi saying `Namaste`," Puri said. "She said she will go to Rishikesh. She is into spirituality now. I gave her a book, `Blue Mountain`, that I was reading," he added.