With his brooding Ritchie Valens good looks, Vishal Malhotra has made more than a few young hearts flutter in Jannat and soon he will be making even more take notice in Kismat Konnection. “Shahid and I play friends in KK. My role is of a talented guy who is rather short of luck,” he explains.
Vishal is usually seen in supporting roles (Saalam-E-Ishq, Dor and Ishq Vishk to name a few) – does this bother him? “No. I don’t miss playing lead at all. I know I can’t be a Hrithik Roshan,” he says. “I can be a good actor but I lack that X-factor which most lead artistes have. But more than the lead, I’m heading towards my goal of playing real characters. Why can’t I be a young Boman Irani?”
Vishal’s 45-day stint as an IPL cricket host certainly catapulted him into the public eye and the quality of his Bollywood offers has since improved – he will soon be seen in the eagerly awaited Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai for example, which will be released during Diwali. How did Vishal get involved in IPL? “I was actually being considered for the latest season of Indian Idol but the dates didn’t work out. For Indian Idol, they needed continuous dates for several months whereas I already had some prior commitments. As a second option, the IPL host’s role was offered to me. I wasted no time grabbing it immediately. Firstly, because it was cricket – a game I’ve been passionate about since childhood. And secondly, because it required commitment from me for only 45 days.”
The modest and professional Vishal Malhotra can certainly expect to grab some leading roles in the not-too-distant future.
