Anupam Kher with Shahid in Mausam

Anupam Kher will be seen yet again with Shahid Kapoor in Mausam. Kher has been asked to join the unit in Edinburgh.

The busy actor says, "I'm yet to get a clear indication of my role. But the fact that Pankaj is directing is enough incentive for me. I'm very fond of him as an actor and as a human being. And I also like his son Shahid a lot. In fact in his brief career, I've played Shahid's father thrice (in Sooraj Barjatya's Vivah, Dil Bole Hadippa and Badmaash Company)."

This time, though, Anupam isn't playing Shahid's father. It is apparently the role that Pankaj Kapoor had earmarked for himself. Now with direction proving a full-time occupation, Pankaj would much rather concentrate on direction and let the others do the acting.

However, the dates for Mausam are still being worked out. Anupam now flies out to the Lake District in England for a walk-on talkathon on the BBC's prestigious business talk show Peschartdt's People. The internationally-known host Michael Peschardt is known to grill the world's most authoritative entertainers and academicians including, from India, N. Narayana Murthy, Vijay Mallya and Amitabh Bachchan.

Says Anupam, "I like representing our country on international platforms. Especially on a non-film based platform. I think I've moved ahead of being just an actor."

Considering the response to it, does Anupam feel a sense of relief for opting out of Gurinder Chadha's It's A Wonderful Afterlife when his wife was offered what he thought was an insubstantial role?

Retorts Anupam, "Not at all. Gurinder gave me my first major international break in Bend It Like Beckham. How can I forget that? Our relationship goes far beyond one film. I'm sure we'll be working together again shortly."