What is it with Imtiaz Ali [ Images ] and Punjabis? All his directorial ventures seem to have a strong bond with them.

His first film Socha Na Tha [ Images ] had Ayesha Takia [ Images ] and Abhay Deol [ Images ] playing Punjabis.

His Jab We Met [ Images ] had Kareena Kapoor [ Images ] play the bubbly Punjabi girl from Bhatinda, Geet Dhillon. 

In his upcoming film Love Aaj Kal [ Images ], the Punjabi link is repeated as Saif Ali Khan [ Images ] sports a Sardar look.

We decided to ask the director, who hails from Jamshedpur, now in Jharkhand.

"The most talkative girls I have known in my life are Punjabis so while writing Jab We Met, the girl in the train automatically became a Punjabi," Imtiaz explains. "In Love Aaj Kal, I wanted an actor to play the younger age of another. So I thought if it is a Sikh gentleman, it will be easier to convince the audience. Like in this case, Saif is playing Rishi Kapoor's [ Images ] younger version. We created a difference in appearance by making him a Sardar."

Imtiaz claims that he loves the Punjabi culture, and so made an attempt to understand it further and conducted a research on it. "But I'm not saying that I am going to teach you the Sikh culture. The point is to treat it like a story," he says.