Source: TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Date: JUNE 28, 2003
I believe in undying love: Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon celebrates the concept of undying love. Sceptics might say that this is an era of changing value systems. But unless there is undying love, the world wouldn’t have existed.
I can’t surpass Salman Khan, who will remain the eternal Prem for Soorajji’s films: I must admit that I envy Salman for that. He is such a good hearted person and a sensitive human being. He exudes a certain charm about him that I feel is required to portray a character like Prem.
I have always been keen on doing adventure sports: So when Soorajji suggested that we will be doing bungee jumping, scuba diving, and snow boarding for the film, I was very excited. I love doing free style stunts. If my face is visible on the frame for the stunts, I do them. Otherwise, I don’t take unnecessary risks.
Tears come very easily to my eyes: I can get emotional very easily. There have been so many occasions when I have embarrassed myself since I couldn’t fight back tears.
The best way to handle crisis is to look at it from a different perspective: My mom tells me that when we face the toughest challenges in life, it’s best to try and turn them into the biggest opportunities. I feel that the incident when my dad got shot at has been a blessing in disguise. It was only then that doctors diagnosed six blocks in his heart.
I have often been likened to Kumar Gaurav: Many have called me a one-film wonder. If it’s in my destiny to be a one-film wonder I can’t do anything about it. No man or magazine can make or break a person’s career. A film makes a actor and not vice-versa.
I have been overwhelmed by my fans’ reactions: While shooting in Canada recently, I met an old security guard. He started crying when he met me. I was so overwhelmed. Though I don’t get time to answer fan mails regularly, I check them once a month. If I find a touching letter, I check for a phone number at the end of the letter and even call them up. I feel fortunate if I can bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Though my fans keep complimenting me for my dancing abilities, I know that I am a rehearsed dancer: I dance with a lot of effort. If there is one thing that I would like to change about myself, it would be my physique. No, I am not trying to be modest here. I am just being honest. I wish I had a more symmetrical and well balanced body.
For the past two months, I haven’t been to a gym: I have been in Ladakh for shooting Farhan Akhtar’s Lakshya. Then, the post production of Koi Mil Gaya has also taken up much of my time. Otherwise, I like to spend at least one hour a day at the gym.
My busy schedule hasn’t allowed me to go on a honeymoon: People have asked me whether after a year of marriage, my honeymoon is still on. My reply is that my honeymoon hasn’t even begun. It’s time I went out for a vacation with Suzanne. Perhaps, I’ll be able to do that at the end of this year when I take a month-long vacation.
I am ready to experiment with different kinds of roles: I love roles that excite the child in me. I feel everyone has a child in us though we often try hard to kill it. I would also like to try out anti-hero roles. I do not have any problems doing multi-starrers. But I don’t have any aspirations for doing historical characters. I have Hollywood offers. But right now I’d like to concentrate on making good films in India.
It’s time that Bollywood experimented with new themes: With Koi Mil Gaya, the trend of exploring the sci-fi genre has begun.
My grandmom is a Bengali: Though she doesn’t live in Kolkata, half of my family members live here. Unfortunately, I haven’t got the time to go over and meet them. I don’t want to rule out the possibilities of working in Bengali films. But then, I can’t speak Bangla.