Four releases and two more coming up. How’s life been as the lead man?
Life has been good! I got to do what I always wanted to do. I feel blessed that I am already four films old. With every film you grow and mature as an actor and a person. In the past few years in films, I have learnt to live one day at a time, I have learnt to take success and deal with films that do not fare well.

What are you doing in Dhoondte Reh Jaoge (DRJ) amidst a gang of actors - Paresh Rawal, Asrani, Johnny Lever and Sonu Sood?
DRJ is a mad film, a laugh-riot that ‘s going to make people laugh from the beginning to end. This film is about two characters - Paresh Rawal’s and mine. I play Anand Pawar who’s the hardworking, sincere guy and sometimes his honesty becomes a problem for him, he’s been thrown out of five jobs in four years. He has a very low esteem and he stammers. He looks like a geek as he dresses up in check-shirts, trousers, ties and glasses. He’s going to lose the love of his life because he has no means of supporting himself. For the first time in his life, he decides to cheat on one small thing but that one lie leads to another and he gets caught in a web of lies. He then meets Paresh Rawal and they end up making a film together. DRJ is about the journey of that film.

What’s a good reason for watching DRJ?
Well, it’s a stressbuster, it’s going to make people laugh. I am hoping you will have a great time with it. For me it was a joy ride, what with Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever - it was so much fun.

What’s the reason for doing a debutant director’s film?
My association with director Umesh Shukla dates back to college days when both of us were associated with theatre. In my five years of association with him, I understood the brand of his humour completely.

Much has been said about your off-screen chemistry with your lovely co-star Soha Ali Khan.
Anything I say at this stage will sound cliched, but really it’s great working with Soha Ali Khan. We are linked to each other through this film by the fact that this is the first full-fledged comedy for both of us. People saw me in a bit of a comic mode in Dhol, and with Soha in Dil Kabaddi and DRJ. She is a fab actor and I am very comfortable working with her. By the way, we are doing another film together titled 99.

What’s the film 99 about?
We are still filming it. It’s a genre-bender. There’s some humour and more drama to it. This is the film I changed my looks for by chopping my hair. It’s called 99 because it’s based in the year 1999 and secondly it’s about everything you associate with 99 in cricket and gambling - all the characters in the film are stuck on the figure of 99 in various ways. It has a lovely cast of Soha, Boman Irani, Cyrus Broacha and Vinod Khanna. It’s being directed by Raj and DK, New York-based director duo who have made many shorts. This is their feature debut. It releases in May.

Jai Veeru has been in the making for a while now. Hope you and Fardeen got along well.
Jai Veeru is an action comedy - we have been shooting for two years because Fardeen and my dates had to be matched. It’s on-the-run film which has car crashes, plane crashes and car chases all along. Allan Amin is the action director. It is the story of two friends Jai and Veeru.

Fardeen and I became great friends on the sets. We would catch up after the shoot and go for drives together. While shooting in Goa, Allan Amin, who has a house in Goa, invited us over. We were shooting on the river and had water skiis on – we actually went by skis through the river to the beach to his house! We had such good times together.

What is Jai Veeru about? Is it some sort of spoof on Sholay?
It has nothing to do with Sholay - there is no reference to the characters of the film, neither are there any oneliners from Sholay. Jai Veeru are such iconic names for friends.