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Photo: R. V. Moorthy

Different act Shreyas Talpade in New Delhi.

He has a perennial smile on his face to go with his euphonic voice. Add to it his natural acting talent. Young Shreyas Talpade seems to have all the ingredients needed to climb the ladder of success in filmdom.

Perhaps, these are the qualities that endeared him to the likes of Nagesh Kukunoor (“Iqbal”), followed by Prakash Jha (“Dil Dosti etc…”. ) and Farah Khan (“Om Shanti Om”). And now even Shyam Benegal has zeroed in on him for his forthcoming film “Mahadev”. And, once again, his old friend Nagesh has collected the old “Iqbal” team. Result? “Bombay to Bangkok”, releasing this January. Shreyas Talpade plays the lead.

The film, he says, is important to him for three reasons; one, Nagesh, two, he gets to do comedy for the first time, and three, it has helped him “get over” the initial hitch in enacting intense romantic scenes and take them professionally.

Says Shreyas, “It is actually a fun-filled, light-hearted romantic comedy that has a little share of thrill and action too. I play a cook who steals money from the restaurant he works in, only to realise later that the money belonged to the mafia. The mafia starts chasing and he runs for his life. While on the run he bumps into a team of doctors heading for Bangkok. He masquerades as one, joins them and flees to Bangkok.

“There he chances upon a young girl (played by Thai model-actor Lina Christianson). How we together solve the problem is what takes the story forward.”

The trailer of the film shows a shot in which Lina asks him, “First Time?” which actually refers to a regular massage done in most Thai parlours. “It sounds naughty but when I went to Bangkok I got to know that in most parlours this is the most common term used especially for foreign tourists. It is an important source of revenue to the country’s economy. And they also give voluntary services to the medical fraternity.”

But he admits that the film has “some naughty elements” that will keep the audiences smiling throughout. “It is not a rib-tickling comedy. It is like Hrishikesh Mukerjee’s films that never made you burst in laughter but kept you in good humour throughout.”

For the first time he has a kissing scene too. “It was embarrassing. I was really nervous but Nagesh helped me take it professionally. There are certain things you probably can’t escape in the film industry,” admits Shreyas.

After the success of “Om Shanti Om” in which he played Shah Rukh Khan’s close pal, he says he has started getting offers from big banners too. Has success changed him? “Kya change hona chahiye? My family is the same and so are my friends,” he quips.

His “good offers” include “Click” with Sandeep Sivan in which he plays a fashion photographer, and “Golmaal Returns”.

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