by Subhash K Jha

It was touch-and-go for Rain-man Himanshu Malik in London... Fortunately it all ended on a happy note.

"But I could've been in jail for six months," still shaken and stirred, the young model-turned-actor Himanshu Malik (who made his debut in Anubhav Sinha's Tum Bin a few years ago) breathes in relief.

Currently shooting in London for Samit Batkar's new thriller with model-actress Rashmi Ghosh, Himanshu narrates his harrowing experience.

"It was all due to a stupid error of judgement on our unit's part. They asked me to drive down without an international licence. I protested. But I relented. Before I knew it my car was intercepted by a female cop. I didn't mind being stopped and questioned, since I was breaking a law in a foreign country. But it was the way the female cop treated me which smacked of racist condescension."

Himanshu was whisked away to a police station where he was grilled for a couple of hours.

"She asked me rude questions as though I was a bloody terrorist. And then she frisked me... and I mean REALLY frisked me. Her hands roamed into my most private parts and stayed there. Man, I felt raped. It was the most humiliating experience of my life. Give me the casting couch any day, ha ha."

When Himanshu protested, the lady threatened to put the actor in for six months.

"I just suffered through the experience. But believe me, we Indians need to think twice before stepping into Western countries. Every brown-skinned person is seen as a potential target for interrogation and humiliation. I'll certainly think twice before shooting abroad," says Himanshu who's all set to be seen in Rain with Megha Naidu this week.

"It isn't what people are expecting. Neither of us takes our clothes off. I know after the kind of films we've done that's what audiences expect. Don't laugh. But I play a bespectacled writer. And Meghna is draped in a saree throughout... not wet. There are no love scenes just one smooching scene," says the guy who became infamous after smooching the mythical Mallika 17 times in Khwahish.

Laughs Himanshu, "That figure is highly exaggerated. If you know what I mean, ha ha. I wasn't counting the number of kisses with Mallika. Maybe she was. I don't care. I'd rather smooch Meghna Naidu than Mallika Sherawat. The only problem is, my wife won't like it."