February 24, 2009 12:45:07 PM IST Joginder Tuteja, Bollywood Trade News Network

Three years back arrived a young man from the 'videshi' land who made people stand up and take notice of him, first due to his physique and then his dance number 'Aashique Ye Meri' in 36 CHINA TOWN. He made a good impression in his Abbas Mustan directed launch pad where his character had shades of grey and soon the name Upen Patel was flashed all over. Just when it seemed that he would be signing films by dozens, Upen decided to go a little slow and instead signed on some multi-starrers, though all with reputed names.

''It was a conscious decision'', says Upen Patel who has finally gone solo with HUM AAP AUR PYAAR, ''I didn't have this fascination for working in only those films that were centered on my character. What I wanted was good scripts and good banners. I was fortunate to find them in the form of NAMASTEY LONDON and SHAKALAKA BOOM BOOM where I got to work with Vipul Shah and Suneel Darshan, the two names that have helped many a careers to bloom.''

CHECK OUT: HUM AAP AUR PYAAR - Upen Patel gets romantic

He held on for a while though in months to come and played supporting parts in two back to back comedies ONE TWO THREE and MONEY HAI TOH HONEY HAI.

''This was a retrospection period. I wanted to hold on for a while and weigh the films I wanted to do, the banners I wanted to work with, the genres I wanted to explore. This is when HUM AAP AUR PYAAR came my way'', says Upen who is visibly excited about being the male lead of this film that also sees the arrival of Desai bothers as Bollywood producers.

''Honestly, during last 3-4 years that I have spent in the industry, there have been solo-hero offers but nothing came my way that could make me say yes. As I said, a script and a banner are of utmost importance and for me and HUM AAP AUR PYAAR brings in both these factors together as a combo. The romantic genre did the trick for me because that's one area which I was really keen to explore'', says Upen as he gets all set to woo Esha Gupta, the leading lady of the film who is herself making her big screen debut.