/> In Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye Randeep Hooda plays Amitabh Bachchan. It's part of a fantasy-plan that the script affords him.

Ironically, Randeep was supposed to play Gabbar Singh in Ram Gopal Varma's Aag. A role that the Big B finally did. And the rest is anything but history.

"No regrets about losing out on Gabbar Singh's role,"says Randeep.

Randeep Hooda is one helluva stubborn actor. He said no to the role that Arjun Rampal eventually played in Rock On. Many think it's the best part in the film. But then Randeep also said no to what was arguably the best part in Rang De Basanti.

Now that the film is...well, rocking on any regrets? "None at all. At that point of time I didn't want to do any ensemble films. I was getting offers like Arjun Bali's Ru-ba-ru and Ketan Mehta's Rang Rasiya where I was the central character.

I didn't want to do films with an ensemble cast, even if it meant missing out on big opportunities. I'm happy if Rock On was appreciated. But personally I've no regrets. I've turned down even bigger offers, " he says. The biggest of them being Rakeysh Mehra's Rang De Basanti where Randeep was offered the role that Siddharth eventually played.

"Again no regrets," says Randeep. "I also had to say no to my dear dear friend Mira Nair who gave me my first big break in Monsoon Wedding.

When she offered me the AIDS film Migration I didn't want to play the gay character (eventually played by Irrfan Khan) not because I've anything against gays but because I found the migrant's role (that Shiney Ahuja did) more challenging. "

Could it be just a coincidence that Mira hasn't offered Randeep anything since then and has repeatedly cast Irrfan?

Randeep shrugs. "It's all about what I'm comfortable doing. I preferred to do Rang Rasiya to Rang De Basanti. Rang De Basanti was a fabulous film. But I'm happy in the space that I'm occupying.

Whether it's Rang Rasiya or Ru-ba-ru I'm happy with the roles that I'm playing. In Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye I play 18 characters including Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. "

Interesting the letter 'r' has played a bizarrely vital role in Randeep's career.

"You can say that again. Ramu gave me my first big break as a leading man. My three big films as a leading man are Risk, Ru-ba-ru and Rang Rasiya. Even the important films I haven't done begin with the letter r.... Rang De Basanti, Rock On.... "