It happened on the sets of Piku and the first day of Big B and Irrfan shooting together. The late actor was surprised to see Bachchan rehearse so much on the set before his scenes and decided to join in the rehearsal, which was for a scene wherein he had to hand over his driving license to Bachchan. According to Shoojit Sircar, during the rehearsals, Irrfan would sometimes hand over the license using his right hand, and sometimes, his left. “Irrfan, with his theatre background, was free-flowing. Improvisation was a key to his practice. On the other hand, Mr Bachchan rehearses one thing so many times that he makes it perfect. Before the take, Bachchan told Irrfan, ‘Ek baat poochoon?’ Irrfan wondered what it would be, ki pata nahin kya ho gaya hai – but all the same he went ahead and said, ‘Sure’,” shares Shoojit.
Bachchan said, “Before the take, can you tell me whether you will give me the license with the right hand or the left hand? Because then I will react accordingly.” Irrfan responded, “Sir, aap bataaiye, which hand should I use?” Mr Bachchan said, “No, I don’t have a problem either way, but tell me which hand you plan to use?”
Irrfan went ahead with his right hand but was dazed when the shot was over and he hopped across to have a chat with Shoojit. The Hindi Medium star wanted to know if Big B was so particular. He told the director, ‘Kya ye itna sab dekhte hain?’. Shoojit smiled and told him: “Yeh commas and full-stops bhi dekhte hain.”