/> The stint in Jaan-e-Mann as a dwarf has whetted Anupam's appetite to play physically handicapped characters.

In Apna Sapna Money Money Anupam plays a half -blind lecher "It's not easy to play an almost blind person whose sympathy factor is lost in his rather embarrassing habit of ogling. Unfortunately or fortunately that's what I do in Sangeeth Sivan's comedy Apna Sapna Money Money.

I run after Riteish Desmukh who's in drag. Does he make an attractive woman? Can't say. My character will answer that. But the Anupam-Riteish jodi will bring the roof down. It's really funny."

Anupam's stint as a dwarf in Jaan-e-Mann wasn't easy. Apparently he had to do the same scenes thrice because of Salman's court cases and hair problem.

Shudders Anupam, "Who has played a dwarf before? Only Kamal Haasnan in Appu Raja. And hats off to him. In Jaan-e-Mann I walk on my knees. In Appu Raja Kamal Hassan has dug a trench and he walked on a platform.

That was ingenius. I walked around for days on-end with my leg tied back. I walked on my knees, and the limb below the knee-cap was edited out on the computer from every frame. I'm glad it came out fantastically. But to do all these scenes thrice over....it wasn't easy at all."

Anupam is kicked about his stint on a new talent-scouting contest Zee Cine Star. "I'm one of the judges along with Madhur Bhandarkar and Pooja Bhatt.

It's a talent-scouting contest where we'll look at aspiring dancers, singers, actors....What really excites me about this show is that it's tied up with my acting school An Actor Prepares. All the contestants will be trained by our teachers."

Er...what about mentor Subhash Ghai's acting achool Whistling Woods? Wouldn't Anupam like to teach there? "Not at all. And Mr Ghai will never ask me to," is the terse reply.

As for direction, Anupam has put those plans on hold. "I've suddenly signed some very good films as an actor. To direct another film I need to be freed from my acting commitments, and I need big stars for my project."