Actor Purab Kohli says he was very keen to do the sequel of "Rock On!" as the musical drama was the biggest film in his career when it released.
Purab started his acting career from television and while many character roles on the big screen earned him praise, it was the 2008 Farhan Akhtar-starrer that brought him the much-needed limelight.
Purab says he always felt the movie deserved a sequel.
"I was selfishly on board for 'Rock On 2'. Before 'Airlift', 'Rock On!!' was my biggest film and after that there was a lull in my career. I was hoping in every way that 'Rock On!!' sequel would be made and that would reignite the spark that set off in 2008.
"So, definitely I was all game for a sequel. It was an excellent film to have a sequel. We left 'Magik' in a new journey of their life, so eight years is a good enough gap to revisit that story and see how things moved," Purab told PTI.
"Rock On!!" starred Purab, Arjun Rampal, Farhan Akhtar, Luke Kenny, as members of theMumbai-basedrock band, 'Magik'. Purab played Kedar Zaveri aka KD, the band's drummer.
While many actors would feel easier starring in a sequel but Purab says he found it challenging to return to KD.
"I think it's very difficult to again play a character that you did eight years ago. I tend to put a sense of myself in the character and eight years is a long gap. I have forgotten that self of mine now. I used to be some other guy then.
"Now, suddenly I have to go back to it. It is tough, it is like again accepting those things you didn't like about yourself and tried to change. It was all the more difficult because Shujat (film's director) wanted me to retain a lot of qualities of KD," he said.
Purab had a hit earlier this year with Akshay Kumar's
"Airlift", which ended a long lean phase in his career.
About that gap, the actor says post "Rock On!!", he wanted to shift from character roles to lead characters and that desire didn't yield positive results.
"The whole attention and adulation that came with 'Rock On!!' was a little unnerving. After that film, I wanted to make a switch to films which feature me as protagonists.
"In that quest, I did a lot of films, some of which didn't turn out the way I wanted to and others didn't earn much...That phase was there to teach me few things," he said.
"Like, I thought 'Jal' (released in 2014) would do very well and mean something in my career but it went out in just a day of its release. That was very disappointing.
"This year, however, has been great. In fact, now I have 'Rock On 2' and TV series 'POW'. It is an exciting time in my career," Purab said.
"Rock On 2", produced by Farhan's Excel Entertainment, hits theatres today.
