Saif plays a double role in Love Aaj Kal

Besides sharing screen space with Kareena Kapoor in one of the biggest fiascos of their careers - Tashan, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan now have something else in common. They both play double roles, characters belonging to two different time zones in their forthcoming films and have to spend hours preparing for their double makeover.

Akshay Kumar, who is currently shooting for Vipul Shah's Action Replay spends a minimum of an hour every morning getting into a 1970s' sporty look without the help of prosthetics. "It's the toughest role I've played. The preparation takes a lot of time. I've Paul Pattison, who did Mel Gibson's look in Braveheart, doing my look. But the effort is worth it. When I look in the mirror after Paul is done I can't recognize myself," chuckles Akshay.

If Akshay promises to look unrecognizable in Action Replay, Saif in Love Aaj Kal shocked even Kareena. "She couldn't recognize me at first when she saw me as a Sardarji," marvels Saif. In one way or another, people who are close to Kareena are playing Sardars. If her cousin Ranbir is playing a Sikh in Shimit Amit Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year, Saif Ali Khan gets to play a Sardar in Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal.

And if Kareena's former love-interest Shahid Kapoor is playing his first double role in Kaminey, Saif Ali Khan too plays a double role for the first time in his home production Love Aaj Kal. So far we've known only the fact that Saif gets into a Sardarji's act in the course of the narration in Love Aaj Kal. However, the Sardar is a separate character from the protagonist. Says Saif, "The Sardar comes in a story within the story. Yes, I've a double role. The two characters belong to two different time zones."

Apparently, when Kareena saw Saif dressed as a Sardar she couldn't believe the transformation. Like Ranbir, Saif got a chance to grow his beard for the Sardar's part. "I grew the beard fully. It had to be faked only for one day's patchwork. I give the full credit for the Sardar's look to Dolly Ahluwalia. She had earlier done a great job dressing me up as Langda Tyagi in Omkara. She styled my Sardar's look in Love Aaj Kal."

Saif hasn't done too many disguises. "But after Omkara, I transform physically in Love Aaj Kal. Otherwise I'm not much into physical makeovers." Neither is Akshay. But both the hotsellers intend to give Gulshan Grover, the master of on-camera makeovers a run for his makeup later this year.