Akshay Oberoi on shooting on the Dal Lake in Srinagar for Fitoor

10 Dec 2014

Pizza's pinup boy Akshay Oberoi is currently shooting for Abhishek Kapoor's Fitoor in Srinagar. The good-looking young actor has been repeatedly mistaken for a local Kashmiri in the Valley. He plays a character named Mufti in Fitoor . Speaking excitedly from Srinagar about this big break Akshay says, "It's really uncanny. But I came to Kashmir just a few weeks before I got this amazing offer. And I was stunned by the natural beauty of the Valley. I promised myself I'll be back soon, and here I am sooner than I thought." Akshay is grateful to the casting director. "It's because of Mukesh Chabra that I got this role. It is a small but very significant part. If you've read Charles Dickens' Great Expectations (on which Fitoor is based) then you'll see my character is far fleshed out in the film than in the original." Speaking of natural beauty Akshay is surrounded by it. His co-star is the lovely Aditi Rao and his not-immediate co-star is Rekha.

The much-married Oberoi is bowled over. "I don't have scenes with Rekhaji. But I was lucky to be here when she was shooting. I didn't have the courage to go up to her break her entourage and talk to her. I just kept staring at her. I just had to be happy romancing her younger avatar." Rekha plays the older avatar of Aditi Rao's character.

Akshay says the locals often mistook the pair for Kashmiris. "We've been shooting some really intense romantic scenes for three weeks now. We look and feel Kashmiri. Gattu (Abhishek Kapoor) has made sure we are at home here in this freezing paradise."