Director Imtiaz Ali has been seen doing the rounds of theatres all alone. On Monday he went through a dream-come-true experience when he saw his film with the audience at the Regal theatre.

'Regal, you've to understand, is a movie monument in Mumbai. I used to watch the best films wide-eyed in this theatre. And now I was watching my film at Regal. It was a life-changing experience.'

Predictably Saif didn't share this monumental experience with Imtiaz. Imtiaz had brought along his closest friends from his student days who had been specially invited from different corners of the country to share the 'Regal' experience.

Imtiaz said: 'There was Joy who makes ad films, Avi who's in telecommunications, Anil who's the COO of an ad agency and Rakesh a video maker from Canada. We savoured the film at Regal and then drank ourselves silly all night. My other long standing buddies are Nassif from Assam and Jaggu from Imphal. They couldn't join us at Regal. They are my reality check. Instead of praising my film they kept bullying me. 'Tu apne aap ko bahut bada director samajhta hai?'

'We had all come to Mumbai from various cities to study at the Xavier Institute Of Communications. We were in hostel for a year. Then bunched together and lived in a flat in Parel for two years.'

Now since the promised post-success celebration from the producers is not happening Imtiaz intends to throw a party for his loved ones as soon as he returns from Punjab.