'Shootout...' is a shot in my arm: Tusshar

Mumbai, June 17 (IANS) Tusshar Kapoor is all smiles thanks to the success of "Shootout At Lokhandwala" and the praise he has received for essaying a gangster's role in the movie.

"Right before 'Shootout...' I had two duds one after another. I regret doing 'Kya Love Story Hai' but sometimes you end up doing the wrong films for the right reasons like friendship. As for 'Good Boy Bad Boy', it underwent too many script changes during shooting and finally no one was sure what was happening. 'Shootout...' was a shot in my arm," Tusshar told IANS in an interview.

Controversial "shootout specialist" Mumbai cop Daya Nayak, with whom the young actor shares a band, is among those who have been impressed by his work in the latest film.

Three years ago, Nayak had appreciated Tusshar's role in Raj Kumar Santoshi's "Khakee".

"Over there he liked the way I played a cop and congratulated me for getting it right. This time after seeing me in "Shootout...", he liked the way I played the gangster. I guess being a cop he can see the view on the other side of law also."

Tusshar, who is television producer Ekta Kapoor's brother, says a lot of hard work and preparation went into playing an uncouth gangster.

"I admit I wasn't familiar with the milieu language and the attitude of my gangster character Buwa. I had never played a ruffian before. I'm not one of those spoilt rich kids who know nothing about life but I was the youngest actor on the team. So I needed to work really hard to keep up with the rest."

He underwent weeks of rehearsals before getting under the gangster's skin. "Every morning I'd play my character's dialogues on a tape to get the tone right. My director Apoorva Lakhia helped me a lot."

Tusshar now hopes that he makes no more mistakes in his career.

"My next release is Priyadarshan's 'Dhol', which was a real challenge - not because I'm not familiar with comedy. My two big hits before 'Shootout...' were 'Gol Maal' and 'Kya Kool Hain Hum'. But 'Dhol' is unlike any of my previous comedies or anything Priyadarshan has done."

The actor will be part of yet another comedy featuring Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty directed by Ashwin Dheer, apart from a sequel to "Kya Kool Hain Hum".

So is he becoming typecast as a comic actor?

"How can you say that after 'Shootout...'?" Tusshar protests. "Besides these comedies, I'm also doing a thriller by Anant Mahadevan called 'Agar' with Shreyas Talpade and Udita Goswami. That's no laughing matter."

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Shoot Out At Lokhandwala