Aiming high!

They are the shining stars of the telly world. Shilpa Saklani and Anuj Saxena tell AT what makes them the most watched and wanted prime time actors

* Acting is more than just passion for 'soap star' Anuj Saxena who is also waiting for the release of his next movie. "I started out as nobody. And now people know me by the name of the characters I play. That is very satisfying," he says. From being a playboy, a cheating husband, a faithful partner and now an aged responsible father, "the character of Abhay has given me the chance of playing every possible shade of a man."

* Transformation from a doctor to an actor wasn't difficult for him. "Life is too short and I've to run fast to keep up with my ambitions," says the workaholic actor who is going through a divorce. But he has cut down on acting in serials as "I want to shift to the big screen." His next venture is a 'bold' romantic thriller, he reveals.

* Here by choice and not by accident. "I could have easily led a quiet life, but I had to make my mark in some way," he says. In the women dominated Indian television scene he claims to play, "one of those powerful male characters that have stood out."

* His favourite actress is Kajol but "I would any day love to work with Sushmita Sen. I find her very sexy," he says. And he still keeps going back to the DVD of his first film Sar Ankhon Par. "As an actor it makes me feel like hiding under the biggest boulder of the world. But I'm still learning as an actor." But Anuj has definitely achieved superstardom as far as television is concerned. "I believe in aiming high," the explanation follows..."Someday I want to win an Oscar." All the best, is what we can say!