Mumbai, Feb 16: Bollywood’s rising posterboy Karan Nath isn’t your usual filmstar with loads of attitude and tantrums in tow. For someone who’s seen glitz and glamour since childhood (he was a child star) and saw Madhuri Dixit become superstar, Karan’s surprisingly level-headed. Dad Rakesh Nath (known in industry circles as Rikku), the man who helped Madhuri shape her destiny, might be making most of Karan’s professional decisions for him, but Karan makes sure that he’s equally involved. “My dad is always there to help me but I also use my instincts to make choices. Sometimes I’ve been wrong, like LOC: Kargil, my last release, where my role was edited so badly that I felt cheated. But I have no regrets. You make mistakes in life and learn from them,” he says. Karan was in town to promote his new film, Aruna Raje’s Tum. In the film, he’s obsessed with Manisha Koirala, a married woman and the two share a dangerous liaison. “I’ve never played a more challenging role. My character seems normal and is a regular fashion photographer with a nice girlfriend until he meets an older and more attractive woman. Aruna’s film is told from a woman’s viewpoint and that’s why each scene is so aesthetic. Working with Manisha was a pleasure, you learn so much from her.”
A commerce graduate from Bombay University and a former state-level tennis champion, Karan may not have found superstardom yet (his debut, Pagalpan, was a disaster but his second film, Yeh Dil Aashiqana, was a hit) but he’s in no hurry: “I’m ready to wait for good roles and I won’t compromise.” Unless Tum changes his fortunes at the box-office!