You never wanted to be a Bollywood actor. Reason?
For a man who was born and brought up in America and didn’t speak Hindi at all, acting in Bollywood was an alien thought. I was happy doing my bit of theatre, but acting in Hindi films never really occured to me. Honestly, I hadn’t even watched a single Hindi film until I was 22 years old.
Nargis Fakri and Veena Malik had to shift base to India for their careers. Don’t you feel the need to do the same?
No, I don’t think I’ll ever do that. I like to lead a very low profile life. When I’m in the US, I’m happy that people don’t recognise me. In India, the image of a funny man is stuck with me, so there is the pressure to live up to it all the time, which is extremely tiring. But no matter where I am, I’ll always be available for filmmakers to sign me.
How easy or difficult was it to learn the tricks of the trade?
I have friends like Bipasha Basu, Sikander Kher and Madhavan who bail me out in crisis. They have always been there for me and I appreciate that.
Are you in touch with Aamir?
I’m in touch with almost everybody in the 3 Idiots team, except Aamir. He is a big star and a busy man. But whenever I’ve met him he has been cordial.
Your roles seem to be getting a bit repetitive now. Your thoughts on this?
I’d love to do other challenging roles, but right now, Chatur is still fresh in people’s minds and I want to make the most of it. I really look up to actors like Mehmood — I wish I could have an image and a career like him.