Dino on Lara and life

He may be the hottest hunk around, but lady luck does not seem to have smiled so much on Dino Morea. Despite a great start with the hit horror flick 'Raaz', the model-turned-actor failed to achieve any glory from his subsequent films.

Such was the success of his debut film that the makers are now coming back with a sequel. However, Dino hasn't been offered the sequel and that's left him somewhat miffed. But the actor has learnt to take everything in his stride and is not ruing at the goodies that may have come his way. Instead, he has turned all his energy to his restaurant business, his production house - Clockwork Productions - and yes, the couple of films that he still has in hand.

And in between all that, he also spends precious minutes pooh poohing rumours of his romance with a certain Ms Dutta.

Ask him if something is brewing with Lara and all he says is: "No comments." But probe a little deeper and out comes a tirade against such speculations. "People have been speculating on a lot of things. I don't think I need to go public about my personal life. The more I try to clarify the more people write about it. For the moment let things stay where they are," he says, the irritation evident on his expressive face.

So we deftly steer the conversation towards matters less controversial and his career in films. Dino has given a spate of flops like 'Anamika', 'Bhram', and 'Aksar'. Point this out and he asserts that he's now concentrating on bagging good roles, those that will give his career a new lease of life.

"I am looking for a bright space now. I have had my share of success with films like 'Pyar Mein Kabhi Kabhi' and 'Raaz'. Then my career graph hit rock bottom. Now I am being careful about whom I work with. I want to work with good banners," he says.

Cynics may scoff but Dino feels that he is now in a position to refuse films he doesn't want to do. "But I have no regrets about the films that I have done. I did them because I wanted to earn some money. I bought a nice house and improved my bank balance. Now I don't have to work for that extra money," he smiles.

Dino is pinning hopes on his next, 'Acid Factory', under Sanjay Gupta's White Feather Films banner. And much like other Gupta films, this one's a multi-starrer action flick too.

"I can't talk much about the role now but it is exciting. I am working on my looks. I've grown my hair for the role and am training in martial arts. The role needs a lean look so I am trying to achieve that. I want to do a lot of action and romantic films. No more dark films for me," says the actor.

Then he has one of his biggest releases, 'Karzzzz'. Though most actors would shy away from agreeing to do a film that stars Himesh Reshammiya, Dino has no such issues. He will soon be seen in this remake of the 1980 Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim film 'Karz', where he plays the role that Raj Kiran did in the original. The actor, however, is in no mood to divulge any additional information about his film. "No comments" is all that comes out when we ask about the role.

But Dino is forthcoming about the other projects under his belt. He says: "I am doing an item number in Jahnu Barua's 'Har Pall' because Preity Zinta requested me to do it. Then I am doing Samir Karnik's 'Heroes'. It's a film based on army officers. It is a travelogue told by Sohail Khan and Vatsal Seth."

Also taking up Dino's attention is his production house Clockwork Productions. He's planning a home production by the end of the year. "We are working on the script right now and I have signed my director. He is writing the script as well. He is an Indian settled in the UK. The film will be a family comedy," he says.

Quite some responsibility, we must say. And amidst all that Dino is taking care of his restaurant too. "I am working on my restaurant business and my work keeps me really busy these days," he says.

For now, the long list of itineraries includes one more thing - developing the lush garden behind his beautiful bungalow. Far-sighted? We thought so too!