'It was insulting to slap Anil Kapoor'

Nov 23, 2008 IANS

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) When Bollywood actor Zayed Khan had to slap Anil Kapoor for a scene in Subhash Ghai's "Yuvvraaj", he felt insulted but carried off the act well, realising that it is all a part and parcel of his job - acting.

"I never imagined I would slap Anil Kapoor. For me, Anil is like an elder brother and is very experienced. On a personal level, I felt insulted for having slapped him. But that's what acting is all about," Zayed told IANS in an interview.

"Actors do things ordinary people are not allowed to do sometimes. It's the nature of the job," he added.

In "Yuvvraaj", which is about sibling rivalry, Zayed has played the role of a materialistic man, who is driven by excess money and power. Despite the presence of industry bigwigs like Anil, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, Zayed said his presence will be felt in the film.

"Your presence must be felt by your performance, by how good you make it and how confident you are of yourself. I never felt their presence in the film was threatening because my biggest asset on sets is that I consider myself a student.

"Whenever I am working with seniors, I give them their space but once I am in my zone, I forget who is senior, junior, big, small, and I just come in to my own workspace," he said.

Barring films like "Main Hoon Na", "Shabd" and now "Yuvvraaj", Zayed has mostly acted in action films. He made his debut in 2003 with "Chura Liya Hai Tumne" and went on to do others like "Dus", "Cash", "Rocky: The Rebel", "Fight Club" and "Mission Istanbul".

With a family drama like "Yuvvraaj", the actor says director Ghai has made him fall in love with acting once again.

"While shooting for 'Yuvvraaj', I was arguing with Subhashji over one or two things and then he came up, discussed the scene and explained it to me. When I saw the outcome on the monitor, I thanked him for making me love acting all over again," said Zayed.

He explained: "I am a physical actor. I have the ability to jump on a horse, scuba dive, jump from a mountain. I can do all of that, considering the kind of sporty guy I am. But I did forget the essence of acting between all this. As an action hero, I feel one cannot really portray the full potential."

For Zayed, "Yuvvraaj" has become a turning point in his career.

"When a director of calibre like Subhash Ghai asked me politely 'Zayed, I want you to do this role', I think it says something about my nature towards my job and of course I want the film to do so well that it becomes a milestone," he said.

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