/> After a decent, though unsung performance in friend Vikram Bhatt's Ankahee, Aftab seems to have vanished.

Laughs affable Aftab, "That's because I was away on a family vacation. I was in New York with my sister and brother-in-law for two weeks. They're on the verge of relocated to the UK. I had gone with my mother to basically be with my sister. And I had a whale of a time."

Wasn't the fact that Ankahee crumble so unceremoniously a damper to his vacation?

"Not at all! I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I admit I'd have enjoyed my holiday more if I had gone with a hit to my credit. But these things cannot be controlled. And you cannot let success or failure control your moods.

When I had seen Ankahee before release I was overwhelmed. But I was prepared for it to go either way. It wasn't a run-of-the-mill film. Earlier I had banked heavily on Shukriya. After it flopped I decided I'd never bank on a film."

Aftab admits the fact that he didn't dub for Ankahee took away from his performance. "Vikram and I had major arguments about this. But I finally relented.

He wanted my character to speak in his (Vikram's) voice, and I went with the director's decision as I generally tend to, specially if the director happens to be a close friend like Vikram.

Ankahee is my second film with Vikram after Qasoor where he has dubbed for me. But now I promise you, I'll never allow anyone else to dub my lines.

In Red my next film again with Vikram, I'll a thousand percent dub for myself even if I've fight with Vikram to do so. And by the way in my next release Darwaza Bandh Rakho I've dubbed my lines better and more confidently than ever before thanks to what happened in Ankahee."

At the moment Aftab is banking completely on Vikram Bhatt's Red. "It's the only film I've chosen to do. I can't accept the comedies and mundane multi-starrers that come my way. And no, the fact that my last film with Vikram Bhatt hasn't worked doesn't take away from my excitement about Red.

It's a much less dark film than Ankahee, a romantic thriller where I play a guy who undergoes a heart transplant."

Surely a new one for a leading man in Bollywood! "You bet! I'd rather do one film that allows me to spread my wings as an actor than five which expect me to repeat myself."