Will Akshay be 2002's hero?

Subhash K Jha

Recession or not, Akshay continues to bag banners as though to the banner born.

Suneel Darshan's new offering Talaash with Kareena Kapoor is still to go on the editing table and Akshay is already on to his next film wih Suneel Darshan, costarring the other Kapoor sister Karisma.

The shooting for Suneel Darshan's love triangle Mere Jeevan Saathi with Akshay, Karisma and -- unusually enough -- Amisha Patel began on January 22. It promises to be a different triangle . Though he has been teamed with Karisma a number of times including his latest release Dharmesh Darshan's Haan…Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya, Akshay has never worked with Amisha before.

Incidentally, this is Akshay's second film after Ajnabee to feature a title borrowed from his father-in-law Rajesh Khanna's film.

"Amisha is very hardworking and talented, just like Karisma. Having the two of them as my costars automatically inspires me to do better than my best," smiles Akshay as he prepares for his next shot. Though tired after a hectic schedule, it doesn't show on Akshay. Recently, he was one of the judges at the Fa Femina Miss India contest at Hyderabad, while wife Twinkle was in Kolkata for her super-successful play All The Best.

"Nowadays, she is so busy with her interior decoration and play, I hardly get to speak to her," sighs Akshay. The couple recently celebrated their first marriage anniversary with a handful of close friends in their swanky new home. "I can't believe we have been married for a year. We still feel like newlyweds," Akshay shakes his head in disbelief. "The year just flew by so quickly. We just moved into our own apartment home on the same floor where lived earlier with my mother. I feel so proud and happy watching my wife look into little details of our new home."

For the actor there's little time to sit and watch his wife set up home. The year 2002 is super busy. "Yes, I have four major films lined up. There's, of course, Vikram Bhatt's Awaara Paagal Deewana, where I play an underworld don. In Suneel Darshan's Talaash, I play a distraught man in search of his missing sister. In new director Vipul Shah's Aankhen which opens in April, I play a blind bank robber. I team up with my favourite actor Amitabh Bachchan once again after last year's Ek Rishtaa - The Bond Of Love but in a completely different film and role."

Akshay's first release this year is Dharmesh Darshan's eagerly awaited Haan…Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya, an unusual love triangle where Akshay plays a film star named Raj Malhotra. Akshay is as happy with his second stint under Dharmesh Darshan as he was with Dhadkan two years ago: "Unlike other stars shown in our films I am not an unhappy soul. I play quite a sunny character. Raj is sporty, outgoing, romantic, warm, friendly and attentive. I'd like like to think I possess some of these qualities myself.

"Haan... Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya is a very simple film. Like my director Dharmesh, I believe it is very difficult to be simple."

As Akshay waits for this 'very simple' love story to open on St Valentine's Day (February 14), he can't stop singing praises of his costar Abhishek Bachchan: "What screen presence! His eyes are like pools of emotion. I have said this before; I'll say it again. Abhishek Bachchan is the dark horse of this millennium. I truly believe Haan…Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya is going to make him into a major star."