But have you had people coming to you and commenting on your kissing scenes?
Oh yeah. I remember when I was shooting for Awarapan in Rajasthan, some parents of schoolchildren came up to me and said that even though my songs are so popular, I’m negating my audience because of my kissing scenes. They felt if I stop doing that then I can increase my fan base. When Jannat was releasing, I had random people coming up to me and enquiring whether they can take their kids for the film.

I’ve always wanted to ask you this, do you practise kissing scenes before a shot?
Nope. I’ve practised enough. I don’t think too much about it. I just go and do what has to be done.

Do you guys discuss when to put a kiss in a film, ask the heroine etc? How does it happen?
We do have discussions about the kiss. Sometimes the heroine shoots it down on the day of the shoot. Sometimes it’s because the director feels the audience expects it. In Jannat, it was actually supposed to be a peck but the director (Kunal Deshmukh) had a superstition that the film will do well if we kiss.

You’ve mostly acted with new girls; do you remember all of them?
Yeah, I’ve acted with some 15 new girls. I don’t remember all of them.

Have you kissed all of them?
I missed out on a couple. I didn’t kiss in The Killer and Awarapan.

How does your wife, Parveen, take it?
She’s fine. It’s been going on for five years now. She’s immune to it.

... contd.