Aftab Shivdasani keen to play Anil Kapoor’s ‘Mr India’ role

NEW DELHI - He was just nine when he played one of the orphan children in “Mr India” and Aftab Shivdasani has great memories of it. With news that filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor is considering a sequel to the film, the 31-year-old actor says he would love to reprise Anil Kapoor’s role in the 1987 hit.

“There is one role that I really wish to do in my career and that is to play Anil Kapoor’s character in ‘Mr India’. I wish I could do that. It was a great role and a great film,” Aftab told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

The actor had played orphan Jugal in the film that had made Amrish Puri’s character Mogambo a household name.

Aftab worked as a child star in various other films too, including “Shahenshah”, “Chaalbaaz” and “C.I.D”.

Later he made his entry as the leading man with Ram Gopal Varma’s “Mast” (1999) opposite Urmila Matondkar. He then took a two-year sabbatical and returned with a more matured role in Vikram Bhatt’s “Kasoor”.

He has also worked in comedies such as “Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega”, “Awara Paagal Deewana”, “Hungama” and “Masti” and more recently “Daddy Cool”.

The young actor is now looking forward to his forthcoming film “Acid Factory”, slated for an Oct 9 release.

Talking about his role, he said: My character in the film is that of a very aggressive, edgy and violent guy. It was a challenge to portray a character like this because personally I’m a calm person. But my character in the film has a very bad temper.

“I really had to leave myself behind and keep imagining the character so that I can do my best. I couldn’t afford to be calm or composed; I had to be hyper in almost all the scenes.”

The film that revolves around five men confined in a factory also stars Dino Morea, Manoj Bajpai, Dia Mirza, Fardeen Khan and Irrfan Khan among others. The actor also specified that he has no qualms about being in a multi-starrer since he is confident of his abilities.

“I don’t feel that there is any problem in doing multi-starrers, all the more when most films today have an ensemble cast. Every one has a special part to play in the film; so there is no problem of encroaching on anyone else’s space. One just needs to have trust in the director and confidence in your abilities,” said Aftab.

The actor is keen to turn producer and said he would make an announcement shortly.