“Mukhbiir is an exciting spy thriller, where I play an informer, working for the intelligence department. My character tips off about a blast in Mumbai,” Dattani says. To get into the skin of the character, the actor met a real informer. “He’s from Mumbai. I understood a lot about my character from him. He’s an ordinary, middle-class guy, who works with an inspector for money. When I met him in 2006, he had been in this profession for just a year. His family was oblivious of the nature of his work,” remembers the actor.

He says Mukhbiir has a story line which has never before been told on the Indian screen. “So confident is the producer about the product that he has given a satisfaction-guarantee challenge to the viewers,” Dattani says, on the unique, conditional money-back offer that the producer has launched. Though Dattani debuted with Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai (2004) and was last seen in Dhoom Dadakka (2008), Mani Shankar “joked that this film would re-launch” him. Though his forthcoming releases include Love Ka Tadka with Nauheed Cyrusi, the 26 year-old Mumbai boy, who also acted in six Kannada films under the screen name Dhyan, is currently concentrating only on the “espionage-meets-underworld film”.

The actor confirms the buzz that the film has been shot with two different climax sequences — happy and open. The one with the open ending was shown in the Mumbai edition of the Osian’s film festival. “We used to debate on the ending, that’s why we had two endings,” he says. So what are we going to see, finally? “To know, you have to watch Mukhbiir,” he says and after a pause adds, “We might screen the film with separate endings in separate cinemas to get the reaction of the audience.”