The year 2005 has been good for Abhishek Bachchan. Subhash K Jha catches up with the star in the making.

Q: The year's biggest high?
A: Dad's performance in Black. Undoubtedly the biggest high for me. I wouldn't single out any of my own performances because none of them was anywhere near Dad's.... And at the end of the year, Black was selected by Time magazine as one of the ten best films of the year. Isn't that cool?

Q: What about your own films?
A: They all made me happy. And I'm equally proud of them. At the end of the year, I was happy to know that the first week's collections of Bluff Master in the US were 160,000 dollars.... But in the second week, the collections went up by almost 60, 000 dollars. That's practically unheardof!

Q: How do you explain it?
A: Maybe, they just liked Bluff Master. I certainly did. I'm fond of all my films.

Q: Think you're stylish?
A: No. I've to thank all the people who work from behind the scenes to create that illusion. A special thanks must go to my personal stylist Falguni Thakore and Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. These are the people who do most of my clothes. And if I'm being labelled stylish the credit must go to these persons. I don't think I'm fashionable. But thank you very much.

Q: Suddenly in the last year you've become a pin-up favourite?
A: How do I explain it? I don't even try to explain it. Aditya Chopra once told me it's very rarely that the audience decides to like someone. No point in questioning it. Just be thankful and work extra-hard to keep the audience's faith intact. I'll try my best not to disillusion those who've faith in me.

Q: CNN has called you the entertainer of the year?
A: I'm thoroughly flattered. I don't agree with that at all.

Q: What are you looking forward to in 2006?
A: Quite a lot of things. But mainly I want to do more exciting work. I'll continue to work hard and leave the rest to God and the audience.

Q: How is it going with J.P. Dutta and Umrao Jaan in Jaipur?
A: It's wonderful to get back in front of JP Saab's camera. It's like coming home. Shooting this film is a great deal of fun.

Q: And Aishwarya?
A: She's a thorough professional. So am I.