Darsheel Safary, the Taare Zameen Par heartbreaker, is now doing a coming-of-age comedy

He is no longer the child prodigy who broke millions of hearts in Taare Zameen Par. Once upon a time okay, not so long ago, it was 2007 Darsheel Safary was the youngest actor to be nominated for Best Actor alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Chak De.

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then. Now Darsheel is poised for a debut as a leading man. I am 20 now and no longer the kid from Taare Zameen Par. It s surprising how people remember that film and my character Ishaan to this day. And I don t mind. In fact I love it as long as they don t pull my cheek, laughs Darsheel who is now going to be playing the lead in a film called believe it or not Quickie.

Bachcha badaa ho gaya hai!!!

I knew you were going to say that. But I was hoping you wouldn t, Darsheel mock-sighs. I did quite a few films as a child including Deepa Mehta s Midnight s Children. But it s Taare Zameen Par that I am known for. Fair enough. But I ve moved on. I am grown up. The transition from child actor to a leading man has been smooth. I did theatre in-between. I think I am now a fully passionate student of acting and cinema.

Quickie just fell into Darsheel s lap. It s one of those things that are bound to happen in life. I didn t want to make my debut as a leading man in any random love story with six songs, two new girls, and three location changes . I wanted to do something that would reflect my own state of mind and the way people my age react to love and life. Quickie was just what I wanted.

Darsheel describes with excitement the moment he walked into the producer s office. It was like going into a treasure house. There was a handmade poster of Sholay, visuals of Bahubali and Robot. The place felt like I belonged there. It s the coolest place to hang out and I don t mind driving down from my home in town (South Mumbai) to the producer office in Andheri. If just hanging out with them is so much fun, I can imagine how much the film would be to make.

Quickie, directed by debutant Pradip Atluri, will be a quickie. Says Darsheel enthusiastically, We start in March and finish in 40 days. I am super-excited because the film talks a language that I do and discusses young people s preoccupation with dating, breaking up, one-night-stands and lack of commitment.

In the meanwhile Darsheel is busy catching up his movie viewing. I ve become a passionate movie buff. I watched the entire Hobbit series in one night. Now I am watching the classics. No, Taare Zameen Par is not my list of must-see films.