By Subhash K. Jha, December 19, 2007 - 12:07 IST

On Monday night, Aseem Merchant who's shooting in Hyderabad for Boney Kapoor's Prabhu Deva-directed untitled actioner, got the surprise of his life from his co-star, Salman Khan.

"He made a sketch of me. It's so beautiful, so life-like and professional; I feel Salman can shape into one of the best artistes in the country."

Salman and Aseem play antagonists in the film. “The film is about modern gangs. Salman plays an undercover cop while I play a gangster. So during most of the day we're fighting each other on camera. At night, we caught up for drinking sessions. So it was on Monday night. We sat together at 9 pm and went on till 2 am. It took Salman a good two hours to make my sketch. At the end of it I felt like I'm the richest man in the world." Aseem intends to frame the sketch in his room. "I don’t know how many others have this gift from Salman. But I certainly feel privileged."

The shooting of the Boney-Prabhu Deva collaboration is nearly over. Aseem whose career has been in a state of suspension for many years is suddenly doing quality work. "Besides this film where I'm the main villain I play the lead in Sisir Mishra’s Bengali film Aseema."

No fears of going from ultra-noble in Aseema to ultra-evil in Boney's film? "These demarcations exist only in our minds. The audience readily accepts an actor in negative and positive roles."