The first meeting was an unalloyed disaster. He was probably the most difficult actor I've encountered in my life. Usually debutants talk nineteen to the 1900. Eager to please, happy to reveal their souls. All I got was monosyllabic answers and he shut me up promptly. I hoped I'd never meet again. I think I was on the sets of a film called Laawaris. He was playing cricket with the unit members while Dimple Kapadia kept calling him "Cawas", a jibe at his Parsi eccentricities. I remember telling my senior never to ask me to go interview him again.But on screen, Akshaye Khanna was magic.