Being bad is good

Tall, strapping Shahbaaz Khan���s deep baritone makes an impact even long distance.
A character actor who���d had a larger-than-life image on screen admits that ���costume shows and historicals are physically more challenging than the usual saas bahu sagas.
I started with Hyder Ali in Tipu Sultan, and it continues to be my favourite role.��� He did get bored after a point.���God has been kind to me and just when I was playing enough historical roles, I got to do romantic roles and the transition has been good for me,��� says smiling Shahbaaz.
He played the handsome prince in Chandrakanta and even did lead roles opposite Sangeeta Bijlani in Chandni, Ashwini in Yug and Bhagyashree in Chaand ��� all TRP topping shows.
Shahbaz who has played a lead character in more than 30 serials, says, ���People don���t imagine me in a submissive role. So I play strong roles. At a time when TV shows are women-oriented, I am lucky to get roles which enable me to hold my own.��� Playing the bad guy with a sense of humour in Mere Apne (9x) has won him ���compliments from fans, saying they loved me. I thought they were supposed to hate me!���
He even candidly confesses that like every actor he had thought of a Bollywood career, only things didn���t work out the way he wanted it to. Quiz him about a character he identifies with and he says, ���I identify with the Hussain Baba because he is a very supportive father. I am very different in real life. I have two wonderful daughters whom I love the most. I am a doting father and a one-woman man; family means everything to me. I can���t live a moment without their thought.���
Music is very close to his heart. He is the son of legendary Ustaad Amir Khan and holds concerts in his father���s memory each year. Also a play based on Dr Iqbal, one of the greatest poets of India, who composed Sare Jaha Se accha is close to his heart. ���I will take this play as far as possible,��� he asserts.
Very soon you will see Shahbaaz playing Akbar in an Akbar Birbal series being developed for the internet and mobile. ���I play Akbar who is a Mumbai don and Birbal is his right hand. We enact the same jokes that actually happened between Akbar and Birbal but in a different form,��� adds Khan.
With so much lined up, we ask him what he feels like now that he���s crossed 40 and he retorts, ���I am 42, but people say I look younger than my age.��� He is a self-confessed foodie but maintains his physique by working out. ���I keep a check on my weight and the battle of the bulge is always on,��� he says with a rueful sigh.