Taaha Shah, boy-man on the go

Though called Baar Baar Dekho, cinegoers didn't seem too enthused about seeing it even once, making it tough for the film to recover the Rs50 crore budget it was made on. The only thing that stood out in the film was the Amar Arshi song on reboot Kaala Chashma and Taaha Shah Badusha, who stood out despite his small role.

When we meet him over coffee at a popular Juhu joint, he is tight-lipped about a big budget film he's signed. "I have been told not to talk about it till it's made official," is all he offers. Fans at the coffee shop don't seem to have enough of him as he gets besieged with requests to pose for selfies. And yes, all the fawning women seem to still remember him from his debut in YRF's Love Ka The End (LKTE) in which he was cast opposite Shraddha Kapoor. Polite to a fault, he charmingly agrees to every request, though his face acquires a tinge of red after an elderly matriarch puts her arm around his waist a little too snug. "So far, God's been great and I am thankful for all the attention. If anything, I'd like more of it," he says. For someone who does not come from a filmy background, the way he debuted with a YRF project (contract for three films) and followed up LKTE with Dharma Productions' Gippi made everyone sit up and take notice.

Gippi also fetched Shah a pat on the back from filmmaker Karan Johar, who found his "unique mix of machismo and vulnerability, a factor that will serve him well in the long run". This was echoed by many like Ramesh Taurani of Tips and filmmaker Rensil D'Silva.

The fuzz and the ripped, gym-toned physique seem to come together well even though one of his arms is in a sling from a recent mishap. "I can assure you the sling is not a fashion statement and I don't change it to match my clothes daily," he laughs, acting surprised when asked if that was an oblique hint at a TV personality who hosts a dance reality show. "I had a small accident in Dubai and had to come to Mumbai and get it fixed," he says.

He's also wrapped up shooting for the JP Dutta production Jee Bhar Ke Jee Le. "I play a rich casanova with a good heart who goes to great lengths to help his friends," reveals the 26-year-old and adds: "I had a lot of fun shooting this one since it's a travel-based film and director Binoy Gandhi kept its feel very young."

To say the Abu Dhabi-born Taaha has had an eclectic education would be an understatement. This son of an orthopaedician father and an entrepreneur mother was schooled in Abu Dhabi, Kodaikanal and Sharjah. "I later enrolled at the American University of Sharjah for a semester but dropped out of the Bachelor of Business Administration course since it was deathly boring," he remembers, thanking his stars for having supportive parents.

"They have always let me be."

After coasting along, Shah dabbled with a manpower consultancy, construction, real estate and building materials when he was barely 16. "I remember agreeing to model for the first time when I was told about the money," he laughs. "That led to a flood of offers and I soon wound up everything else just to pursue modelling for the next three years." He's modelled for Honda, Bacardi, Emirates, Bank of Oman, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Omantel and others before starting a steel import firm.

"The first few consignments helped me make money and I thought I was onto something big. But then steel prices began to crash worldwide and I had already paid a very high price. The ships were in transit. By the time they arrived, no one was willing to pay me even the exact rates I had bought the steel at and I ended up losing a lot of money."

He remembers going to meet his elder brother Abid, a civil engineer at the University of Toronto "to get out of the funk due to the loss". It was there that he made up his mind to pursue acting and returned to Abu Dhabi to enrol at the New York Film Academy there. "After the course, I came to Mumbai for a few days to meet family friends. But I fell in love with the city and never left."

A sidelong glance at the look on the clock and his face contorts. "I have to head to the gym, dance classes, martial arts and music class before I head home," he smiles.

No pain, no gain.