Emraan is riding high. Starting from a flop film 'Footpath', the blue-eyed boy of Bhatts has come a long way with hits one after another. TWF correspondent Vickey Lalwani chats up the smooch king of Bollywood.

Q: While shooting for 'Killer', you played a prank on your leading lady Nisha Kothari?
A: (Laughs) Yes. The scene required a bullet to whiz towards Nisha, and I save her. I grab her and roll to the ground.

I told the directors (Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala) to tell Nisha that after I roll to the ground and Nisha turns towards me, I would then hold her tightly and plant a kiss. Nisha didn't say anything but the ex-pression after the narration clearly revealed that she didn't like the idea.

Q: Then what happened?
A: The shot happened. Nisha rolled over and waited and waited for the kiss... but it didn't happen! She looked stunned and couldn't figure out what happened. At this point of time, we could not refrain from laughing. She realised the joke was on her.

Q: Why did you do this mischief?
A: It was all in good fun. Basically, I wanted to break the ice between her and me. The prank was a way of breaking the ice between Nisha and me. Nisha seemed a bit apprehensive of my kissing image and used to look at me like this monster has come on the sets.

She had shot for five days before me and then I came in. I had never met her before that. But when she looked at me, I knew what she was thinking. Earlier, she had made some comment about me and my kissing image, so I decided to play a prank on her.

Q: Why did you take the second lead in 'Gangster'? Earlier, weren't you supposed to do Shiney Ahuja's role?
A: I have never turned down a film because I wasn't offered the lead. In my first film 'Footpath', I had the choice of doing the role played by Aftab Shivdasani, but I felt Raghu's character was more challenging and the gamble paid off for me.

I went with my conviction. 'Murder' was out-n-out Mallika Sherawat's film but it got me a fair share of popularity and recognition.'Kalyug' proved that I could shine even in a two-bit role. What more do I want?

Even in 'Gangster', people praised my performance even though Shiney (Ahuja) had the title role. I have no ego hassles. I am a director's actor.

Q: After working with the Bhatts for so long, you are now doing a Subhash Ghai film titled 'Good Boy, Bad Boy'?
A: That's right. I am playing the bad boy. It's a unique story of campus life the likes of which we've never seen on the Hindi screen before. There are two kinds of guys in college-the studious nerds and the cool dudes who rule in the canteen.

The distinction between the two is very definite but occasionally, as it happens in this film, the two guys who're diametrically opposite to each other, become friends and together wipe out the deficiencies in each other.

Q: You specialise in films having extra-marital affairs as the subject. Did you ever have an affair with a marrieed woman?
A: Yes I did have an affair with a married woman. But all along I wasn't aware that she was married.

Q: How did it stop?
A: Well, the inevitable happened and her husband came to know. There was no escaping a showdown either. The end was ugly, but finally we froze on the relationship.

Q: You're tying the knot with your girlfriend on December 14?
A: The wedding will be sometime in December. We haven't freezed on the date yet. December 14 is the tentative plan. But I'm happy I've taken the decision. It'll be the beginning of another new chapter in my life. We are engaged now.

Q: Your fiancée was upset with your intimate scenes with Mallika in 'Murder'? Does this mean that after marriage Emraan will never kiss on screen again?
A: That's not true. Rumours are a part of the film industry. My fiancée has never pressurized me when it comes to work. She's never told me what I can do and what I can't. It's my decision to refrain from kissing for a while.