You had stopped doing TV some time before you signed your first film Aamir. So was it a pre-decided move?

I have never made a pre-decided move in my life. Yes, I wanted to do films. I have been meeting people and having talks for the past couple of years. But I knew films were a different thing altogether. Being popular on TV doesn’t warrant a big film. I was trying to discover my range — what my shortcomings were and how I could improve myself. I have no theatre background. I haven’t gone to any acting school. I got lucky that my first serial (Kahiin To Hoga) made me popular. The script of Aamir excited me so much that I thought the time had come for the switch.

People look at you as a chocolate-boy hero. Why start with a hard-hitting film like Aamir?

I had this whole notion in my mind that once I got into films I would start with a typically romantic film. I had never thought I would start off my film career with something like Aamir. So, I was very surprised when the makers of Aamir wanted me for a film like this, given my lover-boy image. I thought, have they got the right Rajeev Khandelwal?

Now that the film is ready, have you figured out why producers UTV and new director Rajkumar Gupta picked you?

I believe they wanted a very average-looking, middle-class, ordinary guy who looks very vulnerable. Someone who could pass off as a man on the street. Also, I guess they needed someone very passionate about his work. Since it was my first film, I gave it my best. Besides that, I haven’t been able to understand why they chose me when they have access to such big stars! When I asked them, they told me: “Watch the film and you will know.”

What actually happens in Aamir?

If I have to put it in one line, it’s the battle of two ideologies. One is the common-man ideology, people like you and me who are completely untouched by the major controversies that happen about politics and religion. We live life with the thought that we don’t care whatever may happen. And there is this group, the fanatics, who insist that you have to be a part of everything, every movement, religious or political. This guy, Aamir, is caught in this entire web. He is sucked deeper and deeper and he fights back in his own way. And how the situation makes a hero out of him.

It must have been difficult shooting on the streets of Mumbai in guerrilla style...

It was quite an experience and it really helped in educating me as an actor. In the past five years I have only gone for close-ups and the story kept moving on and on and on. Here, every shot was treated very specially. I am so used to seeing the entire technical set-up in front of me — the cameraman, the director.... Here there was nobody. The camera was hidden, the director was only available on the phone so as not to alert the crowds. I had to work a lot on instinct.

What happened when someone recognised you in the middle of a shot?

We wasted three hours every time someone recognised me! I had no idea that the common man on the street would recognise me because I had a feeling my popularity was with a certain kind of people. But when we were shooting on the Western Express Highway and at places like Chor Bazaar, they would come up all the time. It felt good that they know me and they acknowledged me but yes, we lost a few hours of the shoot (smiles).

Is there anything in Aamir for the Rajeev Khandelwal fan — especially young girls who are mad about your looks?

The only reason I would give them is that Aamir is a good film, but that again is my opinion. It’s a very commercial film treated very differently. It’s a great thriller. Don’t watch it for Rajeev Khandelwal, watch it for the film.

Only films from now on?

I will do TV if I am given an opportunity to do something very fresh, very new, which breaks new ground.... But doing the kind of stuff I have done in the past... daily soaps... I wouldn’t be happy doing them. I’m doing another UTV film.

Is there even a remote possibility of you pairing up with Aamna Shariff again?

Unfortunately it’s not in my hands, yaar! I can’t produce a film with the two of us. If someone can think of a good storyline, not thinking of cashing in on the popularity of the Rajeev-Aamna pairing, I would be more than happy.

Would you go to watch Aamir for a glimpse of Rajeev Khandelwal? Tell t2@abpmail.com