Bollywood charmer Hrithik Roshan has a reputation for being an exacting, diligent actor who does all his own stunts. But he didn't make the cut with Bollywood's most famous face, Aishwarya Rai.

He says he fell short during their recent shoot for the action thriller "Dhoom2."

"I was quite shocked to see the kind of intelligence she lends to her characters,'' he told a leading newspaper. "It was quite a task matching up to the world's most beautiful face."

Colleagues often describe Roshan as a perfectionist and the actor said he had "loosened up this time and was quite chilled out."

But while filming the cops-and-robbers flick, "slowly and steadily, she made me aware of the fact that I was having a bit too much fun with the role and should start taking it more seriously."

Roshan plays a thief in "Dhoom2," which also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Rai and Bipasha Basu.

He plans to go one up on Rai when they begin shooting next month for a period romance "Jodha-Akbar," a 16th century love story between a Muslim emperor and a Hindu princess.

"This time in 'Jodha-Akbar' I will make sure that I take my character very seriously, and turn the tables on her so that she will be inspired by me, just as I was by her in Dhoom2."