UNI

Mumbai, Sep 28: Abhishekh Bachchan, named as 'Asia's sexiest man' is indignant at accusations levelled at Bollywood for not churning out responsible movies. On the contrary, he strongly believes that tinsel town produces some good quality and meaningful cinema and he cites Karan Johar's latest magnum opus Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna to be one among them.

''In a film industry where we are accused of not making responsible films, Karan is blamed for making a good film like KANK.'' The Junior Bachchan said he feels privileged to be associated with megastars like his dad Amitabh Bachchan, superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Muknerjee and Preity Zinta and said it feels good to be ''critically acclaimed''.

In a tete-a-tete with reporters at the ITC Grand Sheraton here, where he had specially flown down from London for the launch of 'Omega' watches yesterday, of which he is the brand ambassador, Abhishek stands by KANK as he puts it, ''Karan in his previous films was known as a candyfloss director. I think he has shown amazing maturity by making a film like KANK, which is thought-provoking and makes you question some very basic things.''

''Karan has brought up a very pertinent question in his film KANK - 'What if you find your soul mate after marriage?''' adds Abhishek.

After being chosen the new face of Omega watches yesterday, Abhishek joins the illustrious line of stars like Michael Schumacher, Super model Cindy Crawford and Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman.

''My first watch was a Snoopy when I was four-year-old, something I rather not talk about. I gifted an Omega watch to my mom some time ago,'' says Abhishek. After his debut in J P Dutta's Refugee in 2000, the journey has not been a cakewalk for Abhishek, besides being the son of megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actor Jaya Bachchan.

After facing many roadblocks in life and a huge string of flops, he came of age in Mani Ratnam's Yuva, for which he won the coveted Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award. And there has been no looking back ever since. He has had a line of hits like Bunty aur Babli, Sarkar, Bluffmaster and the recent blockbuster KANK.

The sailing could not have been better with an impressive line-up of films lined up for release like Dhoom 2, where he shares screen space with another superstar Hrithik Roshan, J P Dutta's Umrao Jaan with beau Aishwarya Rai, Ram Gopal Varma's Sarkar 2, Mani Ratnam's Guru and other films by his friend Goldie Behl and Rakyesh Mehra, who made Rang De Basanti.

An actor who did not follow his father's genre but invented one himself is today seen as the poster boy for Gen X.