By R Manishaa, Bollywood Trade News Network

Arya Babbar’brief role in Mani Ratnam’s GURU (as Abhishek’s friend and brother-in-law who later rebels against him) may have got him little acclaim in comparison to Abhishek’s towering role in the film but Babbar regards the experience as something that he would like to treasure in his career. “I took up the role for the sheer pleasure of working with ace director like Mani Ratnam but the best part about it was the experience of working with Abhishek with whom I have shared a long association off screen,” he reveals. According to him, he and Abhishek have been good friends over a period of time, due to the family ties and the Sahara connection, which was one of the reasons, they got along like a house on fire during the shooting of the film.

Ask him whether his relationship with Abhishek has changed in the wake of his father now being a political rival (he opted out of the Samajwadi party) to Abhishek’s father, Amitabh Bachchan, who is a strong campaigner for the party. He smiles at that. “I have never been influenced in my choice of friends by my father’s political leanings but talking about it, let me clarify that it is Jaya aunty who is politically involved and not Amit-uncle. He is hardly into politics though he has friends who are actively into politics. Besides, we are very good family friends irrespective of everything else,” he says.

Meanwhile he is all geared up for his first major international release, PARTITION, scheduled to release in the first week of February. The film portrayed against the backdrop of partition has him playing the role of the chief antagonist. That will be followed by the release of a Canadian production, A TUNE FOR HER, where he essays a romantic role. Apart from that he is looking forward to his next major stage performance on February 9, in an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET, in which he plays the role of Romeo. The play has been directed by famous screenplay writer, Atul Tiwari, who has been credited with the screenplay of several thought-provoking films like DROH KAAL. “Isn’t that enough for an actor to be creatively charged? I don’t think one can ask for more,” he says.