By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan, who has recently been voted Mumbai's gay icon, is discernibly embarrassed by this appellation but says that "any kind of recognition is a blessing".

"I don't know how to react to this. Any kind of recognition is a blessing. I don't believe in discriminating against any people. As long as any community loves me for doing what I do on screen, what more can I ask for?

"Of course, I'm flattered and I feel hugely complimented. It's not every day that one gets singled out by a very important and sensitive community. Of course I enjoy the thought of being a gay icon, though let me tell you I don't think I deserve it," Abhishek told IANS.

He also topped a list of 50 Sexiest Asian Men in a survey conducted by Eastern Eye, an Asian newspaper published in Britain, in September.

When told that he's been chosen because of his clean-cut family image, Abhishek said: "It's not as though I put on any image for effect. That's the way I am. Family is the most important thing in my life. I don't have to make an effort to be a family man. I've been brought up to believe in certain values."

First sexy, now gay icon?

"I don't take these appellations seriously. My main job is to be an actor. And all these wonderful appellations come from that job. If I wasn't an actor, I'd be neither considered sexy - whatever that means - nor a gay icon.

"I concentrate on my job as an actor. The rest I treat as bonuses given to me for doing my job seriously. My responsibility is towards my audience and entertaining them. 'Sexy' and 'gay icon' are terms of affection that are here today will be gone tomorrow. I value them as long as they're mine."

Abhishek is mature enough to see that conducting himself decorously is not a responsibility; it comes with the territory of being a Bachchan.

"And why just a Bachchan? Every actor must be conscious of his public image. I'm very particular about my behaviour, and would've been so even if I wasn't a Bachchan."

Do you like being called sexy? "I don't know what it means."

Maybe it means people want to have sex with him? Abhishek laughed in embarrassment: "I don't think so. I really don't know what being sexy is."