Sat 10 May 2008
You have been completely out of the news for a long time. Where have you been?
I was out of town for a few months and have just got back and have been busy wrapping up Jai Veeru. I am not keeping a low profile deliberately. I guess I am just not seen at places where you guys hang out.
How is your father’s health now and what exactly happened?
He is fine now. He had a couple of knee surgeries, which took a lot of time to recover. The recovery period has been a little painful but we have been with him and it was nice that the entire family was together, helping him recover. I was so busy travelling last year, that it felt really good to spend time with my entire family. It wasn’t for a very happy reason, but at least we were all together.
You are doing very few films these days.
Yes, I am. I have Dulha Mil Gaya and I will be starting Sanjay Gupta’s Acid Factor soon. I have also signed with Abbas-Mustan’s film to be directed by Rumi Jaffrey.
What’s happening to Kurbani?
Well, I won’t talk about it right now, but you will hear something about it very soon.
Zayed and Hrithik have just become dads. When do we get to hear the good news from you?
(Smiles) Natassha and I are enjoying ourselves and we have been married for just two years. I guess we are enjoying the freedom now, travelling a lot, as once kids come into the picture, a lot of things will change. But Insha Allah, very soon we will plan a child. Once we are tire of all the fun and travelling, we will start a family.
How’s your garment business going on?
Great. We have already started five stores in Chandigarh, Delhi and Jaipur and this year we will set up stores in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai as well.
You are a hardcore cricket fan, so why haven’t you been seen at any of the IPL matches yet?
I have really been caught up with my shoots, though I have been watching all the matches on television. Now I have a few days off and I will be going to the stadium to watch Mumbai Indians play Kolkata Knight Riders, next.
Whom will you support? Mumbai or Shah Rukh’s team?
I am a Mumbaikar at the end of the day, and everyone wants the home team to win. SRK, on the other hand, is a friend and has a very good team. So I would say, let the best team win.
You’ve had a couple of hits in comedies like No Entry and Heyy Baby. So shouldn’t you be doing more comedies?
It is a tough genre. I am not talking from the point of view of only an actor but also from the perspectives of a director and writer. All I can say is that after Hey Baby and No Entry, I did not find any offer exciting.
There are rumours that you are at a war with your Heyy Baby director Sajid Khan.
They’re unfounded! That’s all I can say.
Thursday’s court ruling is sure to give actor Fardeen Khan a high. For, he may never be tried for possessing cocaine, registered against him six years ago.Special (NDPS) judge PN Deshmukh said Fardeen was entitled to apply for legal amnesty available to first time offenders under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychtropic substances Act. Investigation papers have shown that Fardeen had bought and possessed one gram of cocaine and not nine gram as the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) sought to represent.
