One of the most keenly awaited Hollywood flicks this season, Superman Returns has an interesting Indian angle to it! An Indian-origin Hollywood actor Kal Penn plays a bad guy in the latest superhero venture.

Also known as Kalpen Modi, Penn is of Indian descent who was born and brought up in the United States. In Superman Returns, he plays the character of Stanford who is a henchman.

"There are three-four bad guys in the film. I am one of them. He is a whacky guy but is also one of the brainy characters in the film," Penn told.

Penn who has carved a niche for himself by appearing in most of the crossover films is ‘super-excited' ahead of the release of his film. He is cast alongwith renowned actors like Brandon Routh and Kevin Spacey and admits he has not done anything close to a big Hollywood venture such as this.

"It was a wonderful experience. Though it is a small role but it is a prominent part of the film. I have done many small films, where I had more significant roles but this one is a big commercial film. It was a delight to work with Bryan (Bryan Singer- the director of the film)," he said in a telephonic interview.

Interestingly, Penn will also be seen this year in the cinematic version of The Namesake, authored by Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, to be directed by Mira Nair.

In fact, Penn says ‘the incredible' Mira is one of the reasons why he chose to become an actor.

"When I was younger, I was very much interested in theatre. But I was not very confident if it could be pursued as a career and how seriously it would be taken by others. I saw Mississippi Masala (directed by Nair) and was amazed at the way she had made the film. Then I thought something could be done with acting," says the 29-year-old actor.

Penn who shares screen space with talented Indian actors Irrfan and Tabu in Nair's film, shot partly in the US and India and due to be released in November, is all praise for the two.

"I play Gogol Ganguly in the film. It was great to work with artists from different parts of the world. Tabu and Irrfan are not just very talented but they are commercially very successful too. If Superman Returns is historically the most significant film that I have done, The Namesake is the most challenging of all," he says.

Penn who keeps a tab on the Indian films admires the two extremes of Bollywood industry. So if on one hand, he likes to watch the Yash Chopra-Karan Johar kind of big-budget family sagas, he is also a fan of the auteur cinema like Mr and Mrs Iyer, Bombay Boys, The Terrorist et al.

"I love to watch Indian films. I feel the cinema during the era of 1960s and 70s was simply great. I would have loved to act in those films. One of my greatest desires is to work with the great Dev Anand and also Rani Mukerji."

Penn, who tested waters with TV shows and commercials before entering Hollywood, says he personally prefers cinema over the idiot box as it helps "explore more boundaries".

"I am not averse to TV really. It all depends on the project. For me, the story and my character are the most significant. I don't mind doing a Bollywood film if a good script comes my way. I like challenges," says the actor who attended the Fine and Performing Arts Centre at High School and majored in theatre from California.

Penn, who once directed a short film for a college project, rules out branching out to direction. He is open to directing music videos though, he is quick to add.

"I have a lot of respect for direction. It is such a detail-oriented job that I feel I am not cut out for it. So feature film is out of question. But I am keen on music videos. In fact, I am talking to a couple of bands here and we should hopefully work out something by next year."

Though Penn now has interesting offers on his plate, he concedes that as he was an Asian he had to ‘work harder' to break into Hollywood.

"I had to struggle a lot. It is incredibly difficult for the performers of colour. It is not so much of direct racism but it is mainly because there are no Indian writers here. The Hollywood writers here do not script roles for us. It is quite a task to convince a director to think out of the box while casting his film."

Nevertheless, Penn is glad he has worked with ‘progressive' directors who offered him ‘interesting' films and hopes the process continues.