Mumbai, Feb 19 (IANS) Fierce rivals during Smita Patil's lifetime and soul-sisters after her death, Shabana Azmi has taken the late actress' son Prateik Babbar under her wings. She's on the look-out for a script and says she doesn't want to do a typical mother-son drama with him.

'I'm very fond of Smita's son. I found Prateik enchanting in 'Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na'. The problem is, I don't want to do a typical mother-son film with Prateik. I want to do something much more unconventional with him. The mother-son route would be too predictable,' Shabana, who is currently busy shooting American film 'Decent Arrangement', told IANS.

Shabana couldn't find a proper place in her daughter Zoya's directorial debut 'Luck By Chance', but is quite proud of the film.

'You should ask Farhan and Zoya why they just cast me as my husband's 'trophy wife' in a party scene. For Dimple Kapadia's role, Rekha was Zoya's choice, not me. But I'm glad Dimple did it. She has done a brilliant job. In one key sequence, you can see every nerve in Dimple's being pulsating with emotion,' said Shabana.

The veteran actress watched the film in Chandigarh while shooting for 'Decent Arrangement'.

'My two favourite scenes are the one where the refrigerator suddenly lands up at Konkona's doorstep and the final scene where she holds Farhan's hands and tells him she knows he's selfish and is okay with the existence of such people. Everyone has gone ga-ga over that final scene. Hats off to Jadoo (Javed Akhtar) for his dialogues. And I'm so proud of my daughter Zoya,' said Shabana.

She says that for Zoya it hasn't been an easy climb.

'Imagine this girl's struggle. She couldn't direct the 'Luck By Chance' script, then she went to another script and then returned to 'Luck By Chance'. Who says it's easy for kids born within the industry?'

Shabana's close friend Anuradha Parikh was the art director for 'Luck By Chance'.

'Anuradha is basically an architect. She has done my home. And now she's done the art direction in 'Luck By Chance'. It was so important to have some non-industry eyes looking at the goings-on in the industry. That's why Anuradha and the cinematographer Carlos Catalan were brought in.'

Ask her about the American film and she refuses to divulge any details.

'I'm not allowed to talk about it. I stayed at an undisclosed hotel and we tried to work as quietly as possible. All I can say is, it's being directed by a young filmmaker from Philadelphia. The romantic lead is played by Americans. And no, they aren't Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie.'