He is an adult married man but a teenager at heart. We are talking of the lovable Tanmay of Colors’ Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha season 2 (Sunshine Productions). Akhlaque Khan who very convincingly plays Tanmay watched many comedy films to slip into the role of Tanmay who is a comic character. He informed us, “I paid special heed to Aamir Khan’s film Andaz Apna Apna. The creatives also helped me to get into the skin of the character of Tanmay who is a mixture of adorable, serious and cute.” On watching Akhlaque perform as the adult Tanmay it seems evident to us that the actor has beautifully continued with the role keeping in sync the innate nature of the teenaged Tanmay. In fact, the body language and facial expressions of Nirav Soni (while enacting the younger Tanmay) is quite similar to that of Akhlaque while enacting the same role. Did he watch the episodes of Nirav performing as Tanmay and try to imbibe the same pattern of acting? He surprised us when he told us, “I haven’t watched a single episode of the former season which involves Nirav’s scenes. It is just a co-incidence if you think that my mannerisms are similar. I think that Tanmay as a character has evolved. In the first season he didn’t have a good rapport with his cousins. Now he has much better ties with them. As far as Nirav is concerned, I got to know much later that he used to play Tanmay. He is a good friend of mine.” Whereas Tanmay needs to grow mature and be financially independent, Akhlaque correctly points out that once his character reaches that mark, the fun of watching him on screen will be completely lost. He feels that Tanmay is his alter-ego as he in real life is financially independent and has a polar opposite personality from him. What does he like the best about Tanmay? “I like the fact that he is full of love towards everybody and takes life in a lighter vein.” What has been his most memorable moment while executing this role? “The first day of the shoot when Tanmay was doing the sting operation with Navika (Jayshree Venketaramanan) was the most exciting. I felt like James Bond while executing that scene.” He is full of praise for his co-actress Bhamini Ojha who plays Aarti on the show. “She is a very good actress who is always well prepared. It is a pleasure working with her. In fact all the actors I work with in Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha Season 2 are excellent.” He is quite open about his relationship with actress girlfriend Roopal Tyagi. Regarding how their relationship evolved she says, “We first met on the sets of one of her shows. Then we started to hang out in a group. We became friends and love evolved. I like the fact that she is straight forward, says what she feels and isn’t self-conscious unlike many actresses.” Have a great life ahead, Akhlaque!!!