The jungle cat

quot;The first film I recall watching as a child was Sholay,quot; he says, remembering how he cried throughout the film, while his grandfather tried vainly to distract his attention by feeding him biscuits throughout. It was his acting guru Ebrahim Elkazi who de-Amitabh-ed him eventually, Sushant reveals. And before long, the young performer says he became confident of his acting skills. quot;All I needed was a platform to show it off,quot; he explains. Having made a name for himself in Delhi, Sushant head for Mumbai, where he ended up meeting Dr Jabbar Patel, who at that time was casting for his Ambedkar film. His sheer determination, coupled with his little experience helped land him a small but significant role in the Mammooty starrer.

By then, the most difficult part of his struggling period was over. quot;Although my role in Satya required me on the set for only a day, Ramu was so impressed with my performance, that he increased my role, and cast me again in Kaun and in Jungle,quot; Sushant boasts. In Varma8217;s spine-chilling Kaun, Sushant lent support to Urmila Matondkar and Manoj Bajpai as the mysterious Inspector Qureshi, but evidently, he8217;s more excited talking about his role in Jungle. quot;Why I think this part is different from most villain roles, is because you rarely see the bad guy fall in love with the heroine without ever attempting to molest or rape her,quot; he says. quot;He just loves her dearly, and ends up destroying his own life in her pursuit,quot; he adds.

Attributing his recent recognition to his theatre background, his training at Kirorimal College, his schooling at Birla Vidya Mandir, and most of all his acting practice with Elkazi, Sushant says he stil has a long way to go before he can be truly proud of himself. But he8217;s not worrying himself silly over that. In fact, he8217;s enjoying himself thoroughly, visiting the cinema hall regularly, watching the audiences go into raptures as he terrifies the living daylights out of Urmila and Fardeen Khan on screen.

This is his time. And he can8217;t have enough of it.

8212; Lata Khubchandani