Cyrus Sahukar learns to drive for Aisha

NEW DEHLI: He might be best known for his wisecracks on the small screen, but VJ and actor Cyrus Sahukar had his wits running out on the sets of Aisha as he was forced to learn driving. He does admit, however, that playing a rich guy was a pleasant change.

“I was 14 years old when I took out a car for the first time and had a very bad accident. I have been a little psyched ever since. I couldn’t get myself to drive after that. After I accepted Aisha, I was told I have driving shots and I told them, ‘You can’t expect me to drive’,” Sahukar told IANS.

But the actor had no choice. He had to give in and enrolled for a one-month driving class.

“They said you are the driver of the gang in the film and you have to drive; so I started learning how to drive. And now I can proudly say that I can drive,” he added.

However, the MTV India VJ says he was extremely disappointed when the actual scene with him in the driver’s seat was supposed to be shot.

“When the actual scene was to be shot, my dear co-stars Sonam Kapoor and Ira Dubey refused to sit with me! The moment I would turn the key to start the car, they used to start screaming. I was incredibly angry that they were scaring the hell out of me.

“I was disappointed with their lack of faith in me. And despite the classes, they had no belief in my driving,” Sahukar said laughingly.

Driving was not the only thing he learnt while shooting.

“I also learnt horse riding for a scene in this film. I think by the end of my career, I will have learnt how to drive every form of transportation. Jokes apart, I was told this horse that I had to ride is a superstar as he has acted in films like Asoka and Jodhaa Akbar. He was quite a maniac and kept galloping all over,” he said.

Aisha is his fourth Bollywood project after he was seen in films like Om Jai Jagdish, Rang De Basanti and Delhi-6.

In Aisha he plays the role of a wealthy west Delhi boy alongside Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor.

After playing a struggling radio jockey and a jobless photographer respectively in Rang De Basanti and Delhi-6, the only respite that Aisha brings for Sahukar is the fact that he is plays a rich guy. “Thank god I am not borrowing money in Aisha. In every other film, they made me ask for money. Luckily in this one, I am rich,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2010.