/> He's 29 and currently shooting for Ram Gopal Varma's Sholay.

"Look at destiny. I was planning to settle down in LA to pursue a career in events and advertising by becoming a liaison officer, when Mr Verma and Sholay happened. Though I'm a major movie buff I didn't really think of a movie career."

Confident and extremely talkative, Prashant Raj's voice lights up when he talks about his adventurous life in the last six years. "I've walked the ramp in the most exotic spots of the earth including Ecuador and Venezuela, won prizes in places in South America that I didn't know existed outside map. Has the traveling broadened my horizons? It had better!"

You sense a certain restlessness in Ram Gopal Varma's latest discovery. His penchant for adventure is compounded by a welcome honesty. "I'm aware that my role of Jai in Sholay has earlier been done by Mr Bachchan.

To step into his shoes isn't just a mammoth task but an impossible one. I'm not even going to try to be equal to that task To my relief Ramu's Jai in Sholay is quite different to the original Jai. This is Sholay in 2006, therefore thirty years ahead. "

Tell him he has also stepped into Mohit Ahlawat's shoes, and Raj laughs. "I'm aware of that as well. But when I came on board I had no knowledge of what I was doing and in which film.

When Ramu told me I was stepping into Jai's role and that it was a role that Mohit had played earlier, I was like....okaaay! I've never met Mohit. But I knew who he is. What can I say? Daane-daane par likha hai khane wale ka naam? We get what's in store for us."

Prashant had been offered a few films before. "But they were heroine-centric and not quite my scene...I guess I'm not too impulsive. I think before I act,and don't take rash decisions. Thank God I waited for Sholay to happen."

One of Prashant's happiest moments occurred when he announced his presence in the new Sholay to his family. "Of course my family, who moved from Delhi to Mumbai few years ago, were delighted. But it was my ninety-year old grandmother who was the happiest. She did my aarti...It was full-on scene from a family drama."

Prashant Raj's tastes in movies run the opposite way. "I like darker films like Sarkar and Omkara."

Tell him he's being politically correct by mentioning Ramu-centric favourites, and he quips, "Then let me me even more politically correct and say I've enjoyed working with my co-star Ajay Devgan in the last two days that I've faced the camera for the first time."

The experience has been an eye-opener for the debutant. "I can't believe in eight days my life has changed. Of course I've been working in the public eye for six years. I was the first runner-up in the Grasim Manhunt contest. And let me also tell you I've participated in the most amazing reality show in the world called Amazing Race Asia."

This self-proclaimed man of the word admits there's someone special in his life. "My girlfriend is really happy with the way things have worked out for me. In eight days my life has turned around! But then I'm used to drastic changes.

Earlier I used to be a pucca party animal. Today I go out for quiet dinners with a few friends, sleep early and wake up early. Life has a way of teaching you to do the right thing at the right time."