Actor Irrfan Khan is excited yet exhausted. "This is not a Bond film. It is a mainstream commercial film but everything is portrayed as realistically as possible," says the actor, who is shuttling between cities to promote his latest film, an espionage thriller.

Here's what the actor has to tell CS in a short, light-hearted interview.

Raving about Rishi
The fact that I would be doing working with Rishiji (Rishi Kapoor) was something I never even dreamt of in my younger days. I remember watching Bobby on television as a teenager. The film left a huge impact on me. I would remember the scenes, the songs and the emotions for many days.

So, I did not know how to react when Nikhil (Nikhil Advani) told me that Rishiji was the central character of the film. He is so full of life and energy. On the sets, he would regal us with stories and anecdotes from his heydays. I will cherish the time I spent with him.


Looks don't matter
Films don't need models. I feel that our audience always accepted unconventional looking heroes. If you look at the bygone era, we had heroes like Rajesh Khanna, Mithun Chakraborty, Dilip Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, etc who were not blessed with great looks.

I feel that the audience likes people with some amount of charisma. I recently saw Raanjhanaa and loved Dhanush. He is not a great looker, but you saw the impact he left on people.


Love on 70mm
I know that people like me in romantic roles. But I am not someone for formulaic love stories. As of now, I am eagerly looking forward to the release of Ritesh Batra's film, which has Nimrat Kaur. It is a very relatable love story that explores another dimension of love, companionship and compatibility. This is an idea of love all of us identify with.


Teamwork matters
I feel that it is important to select a film that has the right people associated with it. Your co-stars are very important because the kind of interactions you have with them off-screen will determine how you translate the relationship on-screen. I also prefer to work with directors who believe in the right casting.

The wrong choice of actors can completely mar the film. For example, we had to put in a lot of effort to hunt for the actress who is playing my wife in my latest film. Though it's not a big role, right casting is essential to establish authenticity to the film. A glamour girl could not have played the part.


New wave in cinema
I think the audience is responsible for this Renaissance in cinema. They want fresh stories, ones that they can relate to. Exposure to world cinema has also increased greatly. They want to get involved with the lives of the characters. There is a segment that still likes melodrama, but that's on the wane now.