'Abhi inspires me not Hrithik' Zayed khan

By Subhash K Jha

In an industry where passing the buck is a favourite past time, Zayed Khan's endearing candour comes as a pleasant surprise.

"Last year I was down and bed-ridden for months on-end because of a slipped disc Speed did get delayed because of me.

Maybe I subconsciously chose Anubhav Sinha's Cash and Vikram Bhatt's Speed because they required me to exert myself physically.

After being confined in bed, and getting all the time to retrospect, I wanted to return with stuff that would prove I was as physically fit as I used to be before the bad back.

I guess this penchant to prove a point runs in my family. Look at Duggu (brother-in-law Hrithik Roshan). He has been quite a portrait of defiant self-improvement."

So is Zayed's brother-in-law a source of inspiration? "Not in any direct way. Not that I take any tips from him or anything. But yes, we're a closely knit family.

Duggu and I go back a long way. In fact we knew each other before he got to know my sister Susanne."

Was there any sense of brotherly possessiveness when Susanne announced her decision to marry Hrithik? "Not at all. In fact I've been protected and fussed-over by my sisters all my life.

They still continue to fuss over me. Now besides my mom and sister there's another woman, my wife to mollycoddle me.

Can't say I don't enjoy all the feminine attention. But I do continue to be the pampered baby of the family, so much so that I can't imagine myself being a father.

I tell my wife she doesn't need a baby since she has me to look after. Jokes apart we're thinking of a expanding our family next year."

Articulate, well-mannered and not the least vain, Zayed has all the qualities in a star-son that could've taken him the wrong way.

"Yeah, I guess I could've become that horrific entity known as the pampered and spoilt brat. But I held on. I always look at Abhishek's example to see how tough things can be for a kid from a film family."