Bikes more exciting than movies: Zain Khan

Mumbai, Oct 3 (IANS) Zain Khan of 'Hari Puttar' fame is one of the busiest child artistes in Mumbai but says he finds riding bikes more exciting than movies.

He wants to be an actor and a motorbike racer when he grows up. 'Do they sound like incompatible careers? That's fine. I want to be the different one. I'm already racing motorbikes and acting. That's not something other 15-year-olds do. And I'm happy with that,' Zain told IANS.

'I started riding when I was five. My dad also used to ride bikes. At the age of two, I got keenly interested in bikes. Bikes are more exciting than movies, more adventurous. Shooting is more...laidback and predictable. During the day you end up doing five shots over and over again,' he added. Zain's father Zaki Khan is a bike racer.

Zain says he doesn't get any special treatment from his friends.

'They used to treat me differently. But now that I've been doing ads and films for a while, they've become used to me. But, yes, I did come across some jealousy and there were people who made loud nasty comments. But you know what they say about dogs barking? I don't want to say it.'

'Hari Puttar' took a while to complete. In between, Zain completed 'Chain Kulli Ki Main Kulii'. He shared screen space with Rahul Bose in 'Chain Kulli...'. The film didn't work, but its failure didn't dampen Zain's spirits.

'In life you win some, you lose some. Do I sound too mature for a 15-year-old? Good na? It's better to grow up as fast as possible in today's world.'

His next is Ken Ghosh's film.

'In Ken Ghosh's film, I play Jiah Khan's brother and Shahid Kapur's student. I've also done a couple of serials and many ads. Does the work affect my studies? It does. But I make up for lost time. I prefer to study in the night when all is quiet and there're no distractions.'

Ask him if working so hard at 15 is not abnormal and Zain shoots back: 'I'm not Amitabh Bachchan. I'm not working that hard. But, yes, sometimes the workload does get too much and I tell my dad to get me a few days off. Otherwise, I don't even get time to meet my friends. So I call them on the sets. We've lunch together, chat and play games.'

At the moment, Zain would rather focus on his board examinations.

'I'm in Class 10. And I'm wondering how I'll work enough studies into my schedule. Best to leave it to god. I'm sure he has plans for me.'