Salman will play an agent of India's premier external intelligence agency in Kabir Khan's next

Salman Khan seems to be getting ready to play his most realistic character yet.

In Kabir Khan's much talked-about film, that will go on the floors towards the end of the year, Salman will play the role of an undercover agent for India's external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

The role of a secret agent will be quite different from the flamboyant roles Salman has been doing of late

To get into the mind of a RAW agent would require a level of intellectual preparation that Salman, who believes in spontaneity, has never undertaken in his life.

Says a source, "Salman has always been a very spontaneous actor. Woh dil se kaam karta hai. But when he heard the script for Kabir Khan's film, Salman was absolutely fascinated.

He couldn't get over the fact that ordinary civilians sometimes act as undercover government agents. Aisa bhi hota hai kya? he asked Aditya Chopra, who went to Salman with the offer. Salman has agreed to undertake all the preparation needed for the part."

Playing a RAW agent is not quite the same experience as playing a swanky flamboyant guns-and-gals secret agent in the James Bond or Mission Impossible series.

Says the source, "It's far more complicated. Salman has to be a covert not an overt agent. RAW agents are taught to blend with the mainstream, to not stand out in a crowd, to be as nondescript as possible.

And yet, when the need arises, they need to be panther-like in their intellectual and physical agility. Salman has lately been doing extremely flamboyant parts. This one requires him to go the other way."

Saif Ali Khan, too, plays an undercover agent in his home production Agent Vinod. Director Sriram Raghavan has made sure Saif stays within the authentic zone.

But Kabir Khan, with his experience in well-researched documentary and docu-drama feature films, is looking at giving an entirely new dimension to Salman's personality.

When asked if Salman plays a RAW agent in his film Kabir Khan replied, "You know I will not comment on that." In an earlier tete-a-tete Kabir had said, "Whatever I will direct next will have to be in the realistic space.

My roots are in documentary filmmaking. And even if I make feature films, I can't stray too far away from my origins."