/> Post-Monsoon Wedding Parvin Dabas has been caught in a crossfire between the East and the West. "I had to choose between Khosla Ka Ghosla and an Israeli film.

I did Khosla .... Because it gave me a chance to get away from my goodie-goodie image and discover some grey shades within my personality, and also to connect with my past. "

Parvin used some of his own experience with his father to play Anupam Kher's sullen son in Khosla Ka Ghosla.

"And to think that the director Dibakar Banerjee didn't want me initially. He thought I was a good-looking guy and a decent actor, incapable of doing the role of a son who isn't prone to express his thoughts freely. Little did he know that all sons go through the period of defiance with their fathers. "

In his next film which is an all-out international project Parvin goes from the intimate middleclass Delhi reality of Khosla Ka Ghosla to the out-and-out exotic international fantasy of Russell Mulcahy's The Curse Of King Tut's Tomb.

"It's interesting to dabble in the adventure spectacle genre in Western cinema. I play an Egyptiaan soldier in this multi-million dollar extravaganza. I'm also a soldier in my next Hindi film With love...Tumhara. But there are soldiers, and soldiers. Just as there're Indian and international films, both worlds apart. "

In The Curse... Pravin was blessed with the voluptuous Leonor Varelli as his co-star. Did they actually see more of each other than meets the camera eye?"

Parvin laughs shyly. "I think Leonor was a little apprehensive about who was going to be cast in the role of her boyfriend. It was meant to be an Israeli actor Yunan Heikel.

She seemed to be relieved after meeting me and only learnt much later into the shoot that I was in Monsoon Wedding and that made me really rise in her esteem, something which to tell you quite frankly I didn't much worry about. I feel sometimes we give too much importance to foreign actors and go out of our way to be nice to them. "

Parvin has acquired the reputation of beinga snob. "I take my time opening up to people anyway and like to treat them normally as I would anyone else. Some of them take that as attitudeespecially since they have the red carpet being laid out for them by everyone else,but after a couple of days they realise it's not so.

Leonor is a gorgeous woman and looking at her, every man's fantasy. I got along well with her but sorry, no affair. I did take her and some of the cast members out sometimes. Me and Leonor exchanged our movie cd's and we had some pretty wild parties, but that's about it.

For me working in a foreign production is like any other job but I take great pride in being an indian actor in a foreign production and showing them that we're second to none.

Parvin has been lavishly praised for his work in The Curse .... "My work won me a lot of respect from the actors and the director was quite vocal in his praise for me. It's a mini-series for American television It was interesting because Rajasthan doubled up as Egypt while an Indian, that's me, played an Egyptian soldier. I guess that's what global cinema is all about. "

Pravin's other international assignment is NRI director Kruttika Majumdar's The Mehsahib which moves into another era and aura.

"It's period film that we shot in Guajarat. I play an Indian maharaja. It's doing the festival rounds and won an honorable mention at the Dances With Films festival in Santa Monica. There is also a review out on The Memsahib in 'Variety' and it singles me out as the stand -out actor. But my first choice will always be Hindi films.

Ever since I did Monsoon Wedding the offers from abroad have kept coming in. But it's important for me to get a grip over here. Unfortunately I don't know how to push hard for assignments in Mumbai. I believe that's an essentual prerequisite for any wannabe in Bollywood. Sorry, I can't bow and scrape. I can't do ji-huzoori. "

Parvin's career in Bollywood started on a sour note with Sunny Deol's Dillagi. "I was supposed to play to play the main villain. But that didn't happen. One of those instances of missed opportunities that I've become used to. I was offered Revathy's Phir Milenge which I couldn't do because I was busy elsewhere. But I'm very proud of the work I've done in Monsoon Wedding and now Khosla Ka Ghosla."