Shoaib Akthar to star in bollywood

Shoaib Akhtar, who is all excited about pacing on the Bollywood track, does not want to neglect his first love: cricket. "Cricket has and shall always remain my top priority. I have five to six years more of cricket left in me. But, at the same time, few years down the line, I don’t want to look back in despair that I lost certain opportunities in life that came my way. So I am open to do a limited number of films now. Bt they should not come in between my cricket," he says.

Has he signed any films? "I have been offered many scripts and all of them are really looking good. The money being offered is unbelievable too. But I would like to make it clear that I am taking this opportunity as a chance to fulfil my dream. Charity is the basic purpose behind me accepting any of the acting offers. I will be using all this money to build schools and hospitals for orphans. Also, I won’t be limiting myself to a particular country or a community in this regard," he explains.

About his choice of roles, he says, "I may have a tough image being an aggressive pace bowler, but I am a soft-hearted romantic person. I would like to do roles which are very romantic. I would love to have at least 15 heroines opposite me."

So, which heroines does he have in mind? Shoaib says, "I can’t name all of them here. But I am actually a bigger fan of yesteryears heroines like Madhubala and Meenakumari."

Shoaib, who shot for a music reality show in Mumbai recently, says, "I love music a lot and am a great fan of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khansaab, Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi. So, anything associated with music is great fun for me. I also met Mahesh Bhatt there, who was one of the judges of the show. He had offered me the title role in his Gangster (2006) which I had declined then. But looking back, I feel he made a great film and I missed a good chance. It was great interacting with all the celebrities on the show and to know most of them were my fans was delightful."

What kind of expectations does he have from Bollywood? "I have one sincere request for the Bollywood filmmakers that they should not make anti-Pakistan films. There should be more films like Shah Rukh Khan’s Main Hoon Naa that will promote feelings of brotherhood between the people of two nations. We look the same, eat the same kind of food and have almost a similar climate, so why remain divided? Let the past be just that and look towards a new era ahead," he says.