Actor Kunal Kapoor who debuted with M.F. Husain's film "Meenaxi", will be seen as one of the four main protagonists in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Rang De Basanti".

"'Meenaxi' gave me a pedestal for stepping into acting but it wasn't a life-changing role. I am looking at the role in 'Rang De Basanti' as the big break in my career," says the excited actor.

Kunal plays the role of Aslam, one of the four college boys based in Delhi, who find their values changing over a period of time.

The New Delhi-based actor was content working behind the scenes after having assisted director Rakeysh Mehra in his last film "Aks". It was while doing theatre in Delhi that Mehra called him up and asked him to give a series of screen tests for a forthcoming film.

"I was in for a pleasant surprise," he recalls. A number of screen tests later, he was told that he had been confirmed to play one of the main leads in "Rang De Basanti".

"I couldn't believe it when Mehra told me that I was unfortunately better suited for the on-screen role rather than the off-screen one. I later learnt that it was one of the four main characters in the film but the most exciting part was the opportunity to share screen space with Aamir Khan," he enthuses.

According to Kunal, the experience was a unique one, both in terms of acting and the opportunity of working with his mentor Mehra. However his experience of working with Aamir has left an indelible impression on his mind.

"He's a gem of a person. I was delighted when I first learnt that I would be sharing screen space with him but it was a pleasure interacting with him. At 40, he's a better prankster than all of us put together. His liveliness on the sets is infectious.

"He even got me hooked to Elvis Presley and taught me how to solve the Rubik cube puzzle which I was unable to solve for all these years," he recalls.