'Tahaan' kid Purav wants to be dentist, signs Hollywood film

Mumbai, (IANS) Eight-year-old Purav Bhandar seems oblivious of the rave reviews he has eared for his performance in Santosh Sivan's "Tahaan" and says that he might go on to become a dentist.

"Maybe I'll be a dentist like my parents, and an actor. Don't worry. I'll manage both," a confident Purav told IANS.

The child actor also seems unaware that he has been signed on for a pivotal role in a Hollywood film by director Steve Barron, who has made movies like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and the "Arabian Nights" miniseries.

In Barron's film, Purav will play an Indian child adopted by a Western couple who comes home to his roots in Bangalore.

"I don't know if I'm doing another film. If my parents say, I'll do it," Purav says with a sigh, not too enthused by the idea of facing the camera again.

According to him, "Tahaan" wasn't his first film.

"I've done acting before," he says. "In ads and in a few movies also. 'Tahaan' was not that difficult. The director told me what I had to do. I just had to follow him. And there was Birbal (the donkey) who gave me good company."

He shared screen space with veterans like Anupam Kher, Sarika and Rahul Khanna in the movie.

"Everyone else - Anupam uncle, Rahul uncle, Sarika aunty... also loved me and helped me a lot."

So has acting affected his school life?

"In school, I'm treated normally. Sometimes I like all the attention, but not always. I want to play and do the normal things, not go to these gatherings with grownups.

"Friends treat me normally. My parents and brother treat me normally. The film is over. I miss all the people I worked with during 'Tahaan'. But I miss Birbal (the donkey) the most. It was very cold in Kashmir. But I wore lots of warm clothes, and I was taken good care of. My father was with me in Kashmir, so it was okay. At the premiere, Rahul uncle took my autograph. Otherwise, I took everyone's autograph."