Akshaye Khanna homesick for Mumbai

Apr 25, 2008 Subhash K. Jha

Mumbai, April 25 (IANS) Bollywood actor Akshaye Khanna is shooting in Bangkok for Neeraj Vora's "Shortcut" and says he is missing home and desperately looking for a break.

"I need a quick break to visit Mumbai. I'm homesick. If I get a break of two-three days, I'll go back. So far we get only one day off every 10 days. That isn't enough to dash in and dash out," Akshay told IANS on phone.

Basking in the blockbuster opening of his new film "Race", Akshaye is all praise for Vohra.

"He wrote all my films for Priyadarshan. So I know Neeraj very well. I'm thoroughly enjoying myself."

Akshaye plays a director, while Arshad Warsi plays a 'bad' actor in the movie, which is set in the film industry.

Amrita Rao is Akshaye's leading lady in the movie. "She's a very sweet, decent girl. Though raw, she's a good actress. She's now coming into her own.

"I really enjoy working with my co-actors, male or female. I like being with them, bouncing off ideas."

He reluctantly talks about the film, saying: "The film has a lot of theatre actors. It's a character-based energetic film. I like doing energetic films.

"In 'Race', I worked on investing gusto to my character. That's why I enjoy working with Abbas-Mustan. They give me the freedom to make the best use of my space as an actor. They've tremendous trust in me. Somehow they like nine out of my 10 suggestions. They allow me to improvise quite a lot."

What about the rapport with his co-stars?

"'Race' isn't the first multi-starrer I've done. It's never easy to find proper space for all the actors in a cluttered cast. It takes people like Abbas-Mustan to come up with a script that justifies everyone's presence."

Akshaye was more than happy to be reunited with Saif Ali Khan.

"Anil, of course, is very close to me. Saif and I had a fantastic time during 'Dil Chahta Hai'. And let's not forget Saif and I also spent a lot of time together during J.P. Dutta's 'LOC'.

"In 'Dil Chahta Hai', we were buddies. In 'Race', we're brothers but battling constantly. But I had never worked with all the three girls - Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy. They're all so wonderful. Anaita Adjania has really dressed us up well."

Akshaye's next release would be a Priyadarshan comedy "Mere Baap Pehle Aap".

"I'm in it with Paresh Rawal. It's one of those films that will put a smile on everyone's face. And my co-star Genelia D'Souza is the absolutely correct choice."