Mumbai, Jun 11 (IANS): The audience has given thumbs-up to "Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain 3", but helming the new season was not easy, confesses director Abhijit Das.

"There was a lot of pressure. I had to do the maximum amount of homework for this (season). It is one of Ekta Kapoor's biggest franchises and it has a legacy I had to live up to. The challenge is always greater when you are handling such a franchise. To keep the interest alive, to do justice to the characters, and make it edgier keeping with the new age -- everyone in the team is looking at you to deliver better than the earlier seasons," Abhijit told IANS, about directing the third season of the show.

He describes the lead cast of Ronit Roy, Mona Singh and Gurdip Punjj as his "dream" team.

"They are my dream come true. This is my third venture with Gurdip. We worked together in 'Sanjivani' and a short film on the Lock down. She is fun to work with. It's effortless doing a scene with her," he said.

"Mona is a delight as an actor. She surrenders completely. I have seen very few actors who can give different minute nuances of emotions just by expressing," he added.

Speaking of Ronit, Abhijit shared that he is no less than a surprise package.

"Ronit was a surprise every time I did a scene with him. He created a new dark and debauched Rohit Mehra. It was good on paper. Jaya Misra's creation of the twisted Rohit Mehra was a far cry from (what the character was in) the first two seasons. But what Rohit brought to the table was something else. His voice. The stubble. The way he walked. It was all him. We would work on scenes and remove dialogues, for he would deliver all the words without saying anything. He is one of the most intelligent actors I have worked with," Abhijit said.