There are not enough meaty roles for character artists, but Vipin Sharma, first noticed for playing a authoritative father in "Taare Zameen Par", has added a variety to his oeuvre and says his motto is to do roles that impart some message.

"I don't want to do mindless cinema. I want to do something that has a message. My character should convey a message to the society," Vipin, last seen in "John Day" as a police officer, told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai.

"Having said that, I understand that all the movies cannot have a message, but then again, I don't want to do something that doesn't make any sense," he added.

In "Taare Zameen Par", he played a dyslexic child's father, but he was not the first choice for the character. Written by Amole Gupte and directed by Aamir Khan, the movie was not a typical entertainer, but it turned out to be one of the biggest hits of 2007 as it carried an important message and was like an eye-opener for many.

Recalling the audition, he said: "I was not called to play the part, I was actually asked to audition for the Hindi teacher, but I requested Amole to let me audition for that part too. He gave me some lines and asked me to come prepared the next day."

"The next day Amole was not there, but I still auditioned for the role. It was my luck that Aamir saw the audition clip and asked Amole to let me play that part."

"I guess I will always be remembered for my role in 'Taare Zameen Par' and honestly, because of the film I did not have to struggle a lot," he added.

Acting was always on Vipin's mind, and like thousands his inspiration was also Amitabh Bachchan. "Even as a kid I would go for movies without telling my father, and later he used to beat me up. But I was really passionate about it."

"I joined the National School of Drama to learn acting, but in the 1980s and 1990s, I was disillusioned by the film industry and thus decided to shift to Canada. When I came back, the whole scenario had changed and I was happy to be here," he said.

"For me, cinema is no more a profession, it's a way of living for me. It's something that I live everyday now," he added.

In the past six years, he was seen in films like "Karthik Calling Karthik", "Paan Singh Tomar", "Inkaar" and "Special 26".

What do you look for in a script?

"I look for something interesting, something unique. The character should create some arc. It has to be very realistic. I just see what kind of human being my character is, and if I like it, I accept it," he said.