Atul Kasbekar on Salman, Hrithik & Aamir

Salman Khan is a guy's guy. When he considers you his friend, he'll stick with you regardless of what others think of you. And there's nothing he won't do for you. As it is, there's a ridiculous amount of things he does for people he doesn't even know. I can relate to him because I'm an over-grown child just like him. He takes pride in small things, he has a child-like spontaneity about him.

I remember an incident at his brother Arbaaz's and Malaika's sangeet . Salman was wearing jeans and I told him his legs were looking good. He was happy that I'd noticed them. He'd been squatting, he said and gave me an absurd number that sounded like the weight of a Maruti car."Gimme a break," I laughed. Now, this was a personal affront."You don't believe me?" he retorted and dragged me right then to his gym, stacked the weights and started doing squats. I told him to stop because he hadn't warmed up and could easily tear a muscle. But he wouldn't let go till I said, "Okay, baba, I believe you, your brother is getting married, can we please get out of here now."

I remember another time when Aishwarya, he and I were driving down to Juhu in his car. I sat in front, they were in the backseat. It was Navratri and there was a daandiya raas going on. Suddenly Ash said she'd always wanted to play dandiya . Okay, so let's do it now, said Salman. He pulled her out and just jumped into the dance. They were there for just 20 seconds but all hell broke loose. It was in the middle of Juhu gully, near a hutment colony, there were loads of people on the street and there was Salman and Ash dancing happily in the middle of it all.

Salman's a gentleman. I see actresses and models throwing themselves at him all the time. But he never takes advantage of that. He has tremendous respect for women. Salman is not even aware of how good looking he is or the effect he has on the ladies. He is a genuinely nice person.

Hrithik Roshan

For me, Hrithik Roshan defines the new breed of actors. I'd say he's an ideal model. The first time I shot him I was astonished ,astounded by his single-minded work ethic. And how he doesn't ever take his pre-eminent position for granted.

Hrithik is very hardworking and is involved in the shoot from the beginning till the end. He has the same excitement level at all the photoshoots.

He's also extremely well brought up. I doff my hat to him and Sachin Tendulkar. The kind of adulation they get could so easily go to their head. Most people would go ballistic if they got even 10 per cent of what these two enjoy.

Aamir Khan

I haven't shot Aamir as much as I'd like to. I'm extremely fascinated by him as an actor. Someone who had a run like Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai could easily have signed 30-40 films and cashed in on his success. I can't think of any other actor who'd take a three-year sabbatical instead of making an obscene amount of money.

My company is one of those that handle his endorsements and I can tell you he gives his clients fantastic value. Because he gets obsessive about everything he does. And I mean this in the best possible way he wants to make sure everything is just right.

There are very few people who set their own rules, their own standards and are true to their artistic selves. At some point we all sell ourselves to the market there are pictures I've taken I'm not proud of. I think Aamir's determination not to compromise on his work is a sterling quality. He strikes me as being a bit like Ayn Rand's Howard Roark. There's no compromise. And if that means losing out on something, so be it.

Such a cute story of the dandiya. Salman's so impulsive n fun!

Which poll was that?

Cool. Thanks for the info. I personally feel Hrithik n Ash make a good on-screen couple esp in Jodhaa Akbar.

Found this link. Looks like this is the survey the paper's talking about - http://www.apunkachoice.com/content/article/sid100002707-salman_khan_looks_the_best_with_aishwarya_rai/