'No films excited me as Rang De Basanti did'

We loved Siddharth in 2006's Rang De Basanti. But that was the last we saw of the actor in Hindi cinema. Siddharth, who was busy with his Tamil and Telugu movies, makes a comeback to Bollywood with Striker, a gritty tale about a carom player.

Siddharth tells Patcy N that he doesn't feel bad about being left out of 3 Idiots, starring the RDB cast Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and R Madhavan, and why he's looking forward to Striker.

After getting an MBA degree, you decided to get into the movies, and assisted Mani Ratnam. Then you turned actor with Shankar's Boys, and did quite a few Tamil and Telugu movies. Why did you jump into so many streams all at once?

I'm very restless -- as a person, as well as creatively. I was jumping around so much because I was looking for good work. In fact, after Rang De Basanti, people were shocked that an actor, who had got a big Bollywood break, did not go all out and push for a Bollywood career.

There were two reasons for that -- I was looking for a good script, as I wanted to do a perfect film and not be a flash in the pan. Secondly, I wanted to concentrate on my Telugu career, which had just taken off in a big way.

In the south, I can commission my own films, as I am involved from the start to the end of the film. But in Mumbai, it took me time to get a film where I could be involved from start to finish.

How many Hindi film offers did you get after RDB?

Many. Producers even told me that I was mad not to take up any. But I did not get any film that excited me as RDB did.

Did you ask Aamir for any sort of help in Bollywood?

Why should I ask him? I have got to this place where I am on my own. With all due respect, I have a box office of over Rs 150 crores in Telugu films without anyone's help. I don't need anyone's help to be a star. I am doing everything my way.

Do you regret missing out any opportunities in Bollywood?

Absolutely not. I had four superhits in Hyderabad in the four years that I wasn't here. There is no film that I think I should be part of, except Striker.

Image: A scene from Striker

Shooting Kareena 'topless' in Kurbaan

The promos of Saif Ali Khan's film with girlfriend Kareena Kapoor -- Kurbaan -- are out, and it's getting a lot of attention. The music is riding up the charts, and it looks like producer Karan Johar may have a winner on his hands.

The man helming the film is Rensil D'Silva. This may be his first directorial venture but Rensil is not new to the field. An ad man with about 18 years of experience, Rensil has also scripted films like Aks, Rang De Basanti and Mani Ratnam's upcoming film Raavan.

When we asked Rensil why it took him so long to finally direct a film, he said he was 'waiting for the right time.' Well, it looks like the right time has arrived.

Rensil talks to Nithya Ramani about what to expect in Kurbaan and even the much-talked about poster showing a topless Kareena.

You have written the script of Kurbaan as well.

Yes. It is Karan Johar's story. He told me about the film and for the next few months, I couldn't get it off my head. A common friend told Karan that I had loved the story, so he asked me to direct it.


Image: Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Rensil D Silva