Painful times for Rajeev

<> var blenddelay=(ie)? document.images.slide.filters[0].duration*5000 : 0 var slideimages=new Array("/tellychakkar/y2k5/july/14jul/rajeev1.jpg","/tellycha kkar/y2k5/july/14jul/rajeev2.jpg") ImagePath(slideimages) slideit() With an unshaven grungy look, Rajeev looks so much like the overworked Varun, that we thought that this is a case of the real imitating the reel. Not so! The handsome actor has just had his wisdom teeth removed, and since the stitches have not yet been removed, he hasn't been able to shave...hence the beard! Consequently, the star has been forced to miss 10 days of shoot for Zee's Time Bomb as a result of severe toothache.

When we ask him if he has taken on any other show, he says, "No, I am happy with what I am doing. I am doing only Time Bomb and after it is over, I will look at something else."

Does he miss being Sujal? What does he think of the new guy? "Well, frankly I don't care. You know I am way over Sujal. I want o prove to myself, more than anything else, that I am a good actor and make people know me as Rajeev and not as Sujal," says Rajeev with a far away look that tells volumes about his determination.

Talk about Time Bomb and Rajeev's face lights up. The current situation where the show is caught up in the imbroglio with Twentieth Century Fox, is not an issue with the actor, who thinks that the show has only a slight structural similarity with the Fox produced 24. The actor however, prefers to talk about the issue.

When we tell him that he looks a little tired in the show, he says, "But aren't we supposed to look tired? We are shown to be working at 5 am in the morning so by the end of the day, we need to look haggard." Then suddenly changing the topic, Rajeev exclaims, "Isn't Akashdeep looking great? Specially in the promos...he surely has the best physique in town. It was very nice working with him!"

He does an about turn yet again and asks us what we think of Time Bomb...We tell him that the format or rather the technique of using several windows could be a little confusing for the viewers who are not used to seeing such innovations...Rajeev butts in and tries to explain, "The serial is such that you grow to like it. People who have watched the first episode will like the second one better, so and so forth."

Whatever might be the case, we know that this is one man who will always be in the news... no matter what!