So do people finally recognise him as Aman and not Anupam? "Yes, some of them do now. They have realised I’m not Anupam and that it’s just another character I’m playing. I guess it will take some time for the audience to know me as just Aman," says the actor, who’s shooting for Gharana, a serial on Zee. In between rehearsing his lines, Aman takes some time off to talk about himself. Ask him if he chose to do Khulja Sim Sim because it gave him an opportunity to play himself and he says, "I’ve always sought to go after change. If I have done a good role, it’s been a conscious effort to do something chirpy and then something bad.

Unfortunately, I don’t get roles to play ‘bad’. As for Khulja Sim Sim I was almost not doing that show as I wasn’t confident enough about carrying it off. It was Star TV who thought I could pull it off. Their confidence in me was amazing and it’s then when I thought I would give it a shot.

Besides, I have always wanted to associate myself with things which are doing well." That he’s started enjoying the game show host avatar is quite evident as his smile gets broader. "It’s fun shooting for it. I’m enjoying it more and more. It gives me a chance to be myself and also a time to interact with my audience. I have 10-minute sessions with them just before the shoot starts. So that helps."

Television is getting hotter by the day. The competition is cut-throat and not much quality stuff is happening. A catch-22 for most actors.

"It’s basically the survival of the fittest here. I think only those who are good at their job survive here. The fact that I’m surviving here shows that I’m one of the best. Also I have never tried to walk over anybody to reach my goal. Besides there has to be competition in any field.

Otherwise how do you push yourself?" says the actor who came to Mumbai in 1996. A Delhiite? "No, I belong to the whole of India," he says adding, "My father was an army officer, so we have been all over the country." Like his screen alter-ego Anupam, Aman too has a younger sister. "I fought with my dad to become an actor (that’s what most actors say) and came to Mumbai. Mumbai is home now. I don’t like staying anywhere else. I’m addicted to this city. It’s given me all that I had aspired to get and become,"he says, gratitude writ large on his clean-shaven face.

A student of English Literature, Aman has also done a diploma in journalism ("I tried for a job in The Times of India but I didn’t get it") and an MBA in Finance. He’s also sold products and he quickly corrects you that he was "an actor first. Modelling happened later. I’ve been doing television much before I was asked to model.

Modelling is not what I was interested in," says he who will continue with his modelling. However, while modelling gets him some instant money and recognition, it’s acting he’s dead serious about. "Right now, I’m a very dissatisfied man. I need more roles, more variation, more range of parts. I’m hungry for a good role." So what’s on offer? "People come to me only with the ‘nice guy’ roles. The kind where I’m the sacrificing type, one who pines for his woman but would happily give her away to somebody else and yet smile about it." But is he like Anupam who loved Tulsi and yet was ready to send her back to Mihir? "No, I would never give away something that was mine. Anupam is totally unlike me. I’m not that kind of person at all. I’m very temperamental and I can blow my fuse quite often. It’s only now that I channelise my negative energies into my acting," says the Libran.

His looks remind you of Dilip Kumar (a lot of people believe that) and his acting too. "Yes, many people have told me that. They tell me I look like Dilip saab in his younger days. As for acting like him, yes, it’s bound to happen as I’ve followed that man so much, his acting has to have rubbed off on me. And who hasn’t in the film industry been inspired by Dilip Kumar? From Manoj Kumar to Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan, every body at some or the other point has been inspired by that actor."

Tell Aman that he’s the one of the most eligible bachelors going around and he breaks into a grin. "That’s news to me. I don’t know if that’s true." So is he or is he not? "I have friends in the industry but that’s about it. I believe in doing my work and going back straight home." Spoke like a good boy.

Finally, does he too eye the big screen? "Yes, there have been talks for four projects but I would rather not talk about them." The star of TV, will he get his due in films? "I have struggled right from my early days of television. I’m prepared to do so even for films. All I say is give me even a small part and I’ll eat away whoever is opposite me."

Arrogance? Naah, we call it self-confidence. —INFS