Santosh Sivan's Tahaan set to release Friday

Mumbai: "You are looking for somebody to play a dumb, brainless, horny shepherd and you thought of me, why? What is it about me that strikes you as being dumb, brainless and horny?" That is what actor Rahul Bose asked Santosh Sivan when he was first approached for the film Tahaan.

And though Rahul just makes a cameo appearance in the film, he happily agreed to play a shepherd in it. But the real star of cinematographer and filmmaker Santosh Sivan's film is eight-year-old Purav Bhandare.

Purav plays the main protagonist in Tahaan which is set in Kashmir and revolves around the boy's search for his donkey named Birbal. For Purav, who had never been to Kashmir before, it was difficult to shoot under extreme conditions.

"I wore six-seven pairs of dressing inside and I wore a green coloured pheraan (Kashmiri local dress) outside and it kept me very warm," says he.

But what was worse was having a donkey as a co-star for the whole of the film.

"One time in one scene, I had to jump and go to the donkey and the donkey kicked me when I went near him. But after that he was okay," says Purav.

Though the film also stars seasoned actors like Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose, Rahul Khanna, Victor Bannerjee and Sarika, the young debutant looks all set to walk away with the accolades when Tahaan hits theatres this Friday.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)