Rao is quite the star already; she arrives two hours after our scheduled visit at the Sahara Motion Pictures’ Parel office, pretty in a dainty maroon number, with an oohing-aahing hairdresser trailing her. She quickly camouflages her delay with a smile and an I’m-sure-we’ve-met-before number. It works.

In the film, Rao plays an assistant director to Nikhil’s Anthony. “I remembered my days as a debutant in Main Hoon Na. Being in the industry, the role was familiar and enjoyed it,” she says. But arrogance is far from her mind, as she burst into peals of praise for her newbie co-star. “At times, I fumbled with my lines but Nikhil didn’t forget any of his dialogues.”

Dwivedi, who walked in like Shah Rukh Khan, muttering coolly into his cell phone, poses happy with his first leading lady. “I am excited and anxious,” he says about his debut, “And I hope this film is a hit.” His screen role has analogies in his real life: An ordinary man with an extraordinary dream. “I was leading a corporate life but dreamed of becoming an actor,” he says. “But the difference is I come from a middle-class background, while Anthony is from the lower economic strata. He’s also much more optimistic than me; he feels that the world is all good.”

Dwivedi’s checklist of heroes is an interesting list of men who enjoy mass appeal; there’s Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty and the staples of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. But there’s also Anupam Kher, who Dwivedi says he’s a fan of.

“I don’t know my future and I believe in destiny. But I will put my best efforts to make it big. It’s been a great learning experience working with Anupamji and Mithuda, who I used to idol worship since childhood,” he gushes. “Mithunda even stayed up the whole night in Mumbai for a promotional event in spite of having a flight to catch early next morning.”

Rao, on the other hand, says her hands are full. She is working on Shyam Benegal’s movie with Shreyas Talpade, Anil Kapoor’s Shortcut with Arshad Warsi and Akshay Khanna, Victory with Harman Baweja and cricketer Brett Lee. “It has been my dream to work with Shyam Benegal,” she says. “When he called me, I agreed immediately.”

Dwivedi, meanwhile, is looking to start shooting for the remake of Arjun. “There is another project in the pipeline which is too early to talk about,” he says.

New Year resolutions anybody? Rao says she won’t be as picky as she was in 2007. Dwivedi says he’s looking for more films.