/> Is Sharman Joshi losing out on a lot of plum roles because of his price?

Says a source, "Sharman lost Dhamaal because of his price. Now he has lost the chance to be in the sequel to the successful Gol Mal when in fact the whole team from the earlier film has been signed for Gol Mal returns. Except Sharman. He has been replaced by Shreyas Talpade in Gol Mal returns."

According to a source the talented young actor is asking for 1.5 crore rupees.

Sharman almost whistles when he hears that price. "I wish I had the guts to ask for that kind of money. And I wish somebody would actually offer me that much. No. What I charge is nowhere near that amount. So I don't know who's spreading these rumours and for what purpose."

The gentle actor explains, "I didn't do Dhamaal because I didn't like the role that was offered to me. As for Gol Mal Returns I'd have loved to do it. But my dates were clashing with another project. If money was an issue how am I doing another film to be directed by Neeraj Vora for the same banner (Asthvinayak)?"

Sharman is not making any effort to move away from the all-boys' comedy mould. "The industry conveniently forgot that I started my career with a serious role as Shabana Azmi's son in Vinay Shukla's Godmother. They latched on to my comic roles in N Chandra's Style and Excuse Me.

Not a problem. Because I enjoy comedy. My new release Dhol had me working with Priyadarshan for the first time. He's such a genius. I've learnt a lot about comic timing from him. My co-stars in Dhol were friends. So there was no attempt at one-upmanship.

I can't work in a tense competitive atmosphere. Of course Tusshar, Kunal Khemu,Rajpal Yadav and I were competitive in Dhol when the camera was on. But we were happy in our individual space."

Sharman has tried to do no-comic roles. "In Anurag Basu's Metro where I was seriously appreciated. Then in Raqeeb my efforts at a non-comic role went to waste. Now in two of my films Farouq Kabeer's Allah Ke Bande and Sourabh Narang's K11 (the title of this thriller refers to the seat number in a multiplex) I don't have a chuckle to waste."