by Subhash K Jha

First things first, is that your voice in the Sabse badaa rupaiya track?

No. I've sung another track in Bluff Master. That's Mehmood Bhaijaan's voice in the Sabse badaa rupaiya track. But that's an old track and the music was drowning the voice. So we asked someone else to dub over the original voice.

Bluff Master looks different...

Different has become something of a cliché now. I'd like to think it's not so different. It's a reflection of the way Rohan Sippy thinks. I love the fact that the entire film is shot on location in Mumbai. Rohan took me to places in Mumbai which I didn't know existed. I enjoyed the film's subtlety and naturalness. It's very hard to classify a film like this. It's very ...cool! There's nothing in-your-face in it. It's a very easygoing sort of film. When I watched it I came out with a smile on my face. It doesn't dictate feelings to the audience. I think Bluff Master is more Rohan than his first film Kuch Na Kaho. On some level in Kuch Na Kaho we did bow down to what we thought to be the market and what would work. Kuch Na Kaho was a film we thought audiences would want to see. Bluff Master is a film we wanted to make.

You've had an unbroken string of successes this year.

Well there's always the law of averages (laughs). I want Bluff Master to work. But I can't take anything for granted. Audiences want to see work that's different from the norm.

While Bunty Babli and Sarkar had your dad to shoulder responsibility this one is pretty much yours.

Not true. There's a senior and popular artiste like Nana Patekar, Boman Irani, Riteish.... I've never worked with Nana and Boman. Such wonderful actors. Nana virtually fathers the whole unit. He was feeding us all the time. He's very warm and hospitable. He took on the mantle of the head of the unit. Unfortunately we didn't have too many scenes together....Priyanka is also a first -timer for me. For once I worked with a heroine who likes the same kind of music as me. When I asked her she didn't have the same standard response, 'I like old Hindi songs'. She likes hip-hop, r & b and rap, just like me. She's a full rapper at heart. She's our music guru, gives me and Riteish and Rohan all the music we like. She gave her all to the project too. When your leading lady is so spirited and focused, everyone is energized on the sets. She's a wonderful kid.

Kid???

Yeah I'm 30. She's really young. I wonder if it's legally correct for her to be working. Among the principal cast it was nice for me to be the oldest for a change. Riteish and Priyanka were really naughty children on the sets. They forever drove everyone mad.

Generally you're the one making everyone's life miserable.

Allegedly so. This time I was on the receiving end. We had a blast. We all kept each other entertained. Riteish I had worked together in Naach. I'm very close to him. I truly think he's one of the most talented actors around.

2005 has been a versatile year?

You do the films that are offered to you. Thank God for the opportunities. I'm doing the scripts that excite me. I still consider myself an immensely mediocre actor.

Oh, please!

I do! You tend to forget whom I live with. By the standards set at home I've to see myself as mediocre. I'd like to believe I'm improving.

Are you having an affair with Aishwarya Rai?

No.

But a section of the press inisists.

Then they know something I don't.

Then whom are you seeing?

No one right now.

How can an eligible 30-year old be single?

Seems pretty normal to me. Not everyone is lucky. I'm not one of the fortunate ones.