/> Shahid has been wrenched away from the 'think' of things. Just when he needed to feel like a solitary brooder for his father's film where he plays an airforce officer and hence a man who spends many hours flying high above the noise and bustle of day to day life, he had to shooed back into noisy civilization.

The double dose of publicity for his two forthcoming films Paathshaala and Badmaash Company have come in the way of Shahid's deep and purportedly uninterrupted preparation for his father's film Mausam.

Shahid who plays a romantic loner in Mausam was just getting into his solitary space taking long mo'bike rides in the night to understand what it feels like to be completely on his own, when he has been yanked back into the thick of things with a series of never-ending publicity and promotion for two films.

Shahid is constantly in and out of interviews.Sometimes he gets so confused he wonders which of the two films he's meant to be talking about.

And this is the last distraction he needed when he wanted to be alone.

To prepare for his part in Mausam Shahid wanted to be completely on his own, a luxury that he can't afford at the moment. At the same time he doesn't want to lose the thread of the lonely lover-boy's character that he is playing in Mausam.

To remain within the character's comfort zone Shahid nowadays takes off on those long night-time mo'bike rides of his cutting into darkness at a lightning speed.

Shahid says going off on his mo-bike is the only way to understand the full significance of solitude in Mumbai. And he's applying it to the fullest at this moment.

Says the method actor. "Yes I love biking on my own. I often take off in Mumbai on my bike during the night. Riding my mo'bike relaxes me, opens up my mind and helps me understand myself better as a humanbeing and an actor."

He admits the role in Mausam requires him to be on his own. "But even otherwise I like going out riding on my own anonymously. It helps me unwind.

I think every actor likes to be alone. In any case I am not a group person. I don't move around with 25 hangers-on. I have 3-4 close friends. They are the ones I spend my time with besides my family."

Shahid does get recognized even in the middle of the night when he takes off his helmet at a traffic signal.

"Sure I get recognized on the streets. But no one really bothers me. And really, you can't stop doing what you have to out of the fear of being recognized."