As I walk across the cool grass in the compound of a vacant bungalow on Peddar Road, I can hear the faint whiff of a shuttlecock. Getting closer, I see a figure in a black shirt and beige trousers flexing his wrist as he plays a mock game with his opponent. The mild December sun does not seem to bother the 'players' whose moves are carefully choreographed by the film's director.

Shooting for Sudhir Mishra's Khoya Khoya Chand is in progress. A couple of Dalmatians loll on the verdant grass, in the shadow of a hedge. "They're Sudhir's," says Shiney Ahuja, pointing to the dogs, as he flops down on the chair next to me, his eyes crinkling as he smiles.

In a short time he has showed that he is here to stay. Mumbai has been his address for the past few years and yet, the son of an army man who has travelled almost the length and breadth of the country, is often gnawed by pangs of homesickness. Before launching into our conversation, Ahuja pulls out his laptop, flips open the screen and with a web browser, guides my attention first to his parents' home in Noida and then to his abode here.

Naturally the first thing that springs to mind is the latest gripe that the almost famous actor has turned starry…a bit too big for his boots. "My friends who are now aware of my star status, will willingly attest to the fact that I have not changed," he says. "I am here, working on my sets, round the clock. I still frequent the same gym, drive the same car, go to the same juicewallah. I have just started out and have a really long way to go…. I cannot afford to be arrogant as I am here to build my career. If I find it difficult to give people time, it is honestly because I have back-to-back schedules. This could be misunderstood as being pricey. If I cancel a shoot, the director will say that I am throwing attitude. I am just one person and cannot be in two places at the same time."

The rank outsider to the industry took a while to gain acceptance. With no godfather to give him a film on a platter, he did the rounds…and faced rejections. For those not in the know, Ahuja would have done Dil Chahta Hai years ago but for the fact that director, Farhan Akhtar, wanted established stars in his mega movie in the making. So, the wannabe superstar lost out a great film but "I am not at all the type to bear grudges. If he asked me now, I would definitely consider his offer. I owe my early success to him because he passed on my audition tape to Sudhir. You can say Farhan was the catalyst for my career to take off."

Ahuja's first offering with Mishra, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (HKA), got him critical acclaim and a role in his next film, Khoya Khoya Chand, as well. The director walks by, smiles in our direction and states, "Before Shiney joined the industry he was a mama's boy. He has improved a lot after he's come here!"

Long before Gangster brought him a whiff of commercial success, the fledgling star had realised that he had to struggle to make his Technicoloured dreams come true. "I was an outsider to this industry and had to start from scratch. I knew the road would be tough but I was determined that whatever I did I would excel in it. I was quite naive and I used to believe that all you need to succeed is talent and hard work but there are other factors… - the timing of the film, its marketing...."

Admitting that "the industry does recognise true talent," he confesses that he did many auditions and appeared for 70 ad films, waiting for the right break. "I never shy away from auditions. I might not be suitable for the role but even today I will go for auditions because it helps me show that I can get into the character and act...."

For the perhaps born to the camera Ahuja, movies were never the first choice. In fact he was not even a contemporary Hindi cinema buff, having grown up on a diet of the old classics shown in different army settlements. "As a child, I aspired to be a million things…. I wanted to join the merchant navy, be a cricketer or commercial pilot. I really did not know what I wanted to do in life until it dawned on me that I was pretty good as an actor."

This realisation came pretty late even though his mirror must have shown him every morning that he had a handsome visage, one of the reasons perhaps why the chikna munda was called Shiney. Laughing out loud, he says, "The name was chosen by my father and I will never change it. I have never focussed consciously on how I looked. In HKA, I did not use any make-up. I am slowly learning how important the externals are, what big role grooming and styling play in the making of a star."

His career - on a roll at present - is not the result of a carefully thought out blueprint. For Ahuja insists that he is game for anything - it all depends on his frame of mind…and perhaps, the side of the bed he got out from. Jokes apart, he says, "My mindset keeps changing every day … depending on what I am thinking at the moment I would like to do comedy, action, serious cinema…. I am quite a romantic at heart. So, I will be able to easily identify with a love story and definitely enjoy doing the regular song and dance routines...."