by Subhash K Jha

There was Salaam Namaste some months ago where Abhishek Bachchan suddenly appeared unbilled as a frazzled madcap doctor to deliver Preity's twins.

Last week Abhishek sauntered into Sujoy Ghosh's Home Delivery ...And this week he walks in and out of two of the 3 releases—Neal 'N' Nikki and Ek Ajnabee.

What's with this rush-hour on Guest Appearance Street? Abhishek smiles tiredly.

"First of all I refuse to call any of those so-called walk-on parts 'guest appearances'. Every part is a character and I played a character in Salaam Namaste, Neal 'N' Nikki, Ek Ajnabee and even Home Delivery where I was barely visible for a few seconds."

Dosti ke liye kuch bhi karega....seems Abhishek's motto in life.

"All these small characters were played for the sake of dear friends. Uday Chopra is one of my dearest friends. It was a pleasure just being part of something as important for him as Neal 'N' Nikki. Director Arjun Sablok is someone I've known for some time now."

"For Home Delivery I was there for the opening shot. Sujoy Ghosh is a friend and I volunteered to play a customer at the pizza joint just for fun. As for Ek Ajnabee Apoorva Lakhia is one of my closest friends. Both Lara and I did his first film Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost and we just HAD to be part of his second film, specially since Dad plays the lead. I believe Lara and I are received by audiences with clapping and whistles."

Any more such surprise appearances coming up? "None that I can remember," Abhishek grins.

"But it all started with Karan Johar's Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham where I had I sauntered into a shot. Karan edited me out. I guess I'm making up for lost time," says Abhishek who 's all set for the release of Bluff Master.

"It's a very different though nonetheless entertaining film...very unlike what we generally see. Rohan Sippy, Riteish, Priyanka and I had loads of fun shooting it. Priyanka is such a team mate. She 's right there on the sets hands-on, no fuss and all focused."