Your father Vinod Khanna would get up from his seat when a lady entered a room to show respect. Do you extend that kind of courtesy to a woman?

There is enough evidence in history to suggest that women have been given a raw deal but that doesn’t imply that a woman should be respected just because she is one. I have been conditioned to do so too, but as an adult who can think for myself, I question the logic behind standing up each time a woman (at times one who is a total stranger) walks into a room.

What is your level of comfort with performing intimate scenes with an actress?

I have not been asked to perform intimate scenes yet. In fact, there haven’t been too many Hindi films with intimate scenes so far.

Would you be comfortable enacting a love-making scene for a Hindi film?

I want to know how comfortable the audience is while watching such scenes.

Let’s begin with you. How comfortable are you while watching a torrid lovemaking scene?

I have no issues with it at all.

Yet, the very audience which watches explicit love scenes in English movies squirms when they watch Indian counterparts do even half as much on screen. At times they break into nervous laughter to conceal their embarrassment. Why?

That’s a great question, one worth debating over. Why are we comfortable watching Hollywood stars but not comfortable watching our own stars in passionate scenes? We can watch a sensuous Sharon Stone film, but when it comes to watching our own stars, we become self-conscious and say, ‘Yaar, yeh hamari sanskriti mein nahin hain’. Someone should do a PhD on this topic. It will throw light on the Indian psyche, history and probably social conditioning too. What is it about the West that makes them so much more accepting about sexual relationships and sexuality — their own and others — as opposed to us? Our attitude to sex is so clandestine. And to think we have the second largest population in the world and are probably having the most sex.

In Dil Chahta Hai, your character is smitten by an older woman (Dimple Kapadia). Do you believe that age adds to/diminishes a woman’s sex appeal?

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Everybody grows old. Consequently, one’s physical appearance, like everything else, changes with time. Age doesn’t determine whether you will fall in love with a woman or not. If I fall in love with a woman who is five years older than me I am not going to tell myself: ‘Oh God, I can’t love this woman.’

What is your take on strong women?

I like strong women. In many ways, women are much stronger than men are. Men rely on a woman’s strength when the going gets tough. But a woman, in a bid to be strong, should not compromise on her femininity.

Recently, we have seen lots of Hindi films where it’s become very important for the boy to seek the approval of his girlfriend’s parents. Does that appeal to you?

Forget the movies, just look around in your life and you will find at least 20 families who have these problems in their lives. It is happening in every house in this country. If there is anything that joins us together as a nation, it is this damn marriage issue.

How important is it for you to get parental approval before marriage?

I cannot envisage an extreme situation arising in my family because of my decision to marry the girl of my choice. But it’s possible that they could express their disapproval if they didn’t agree with my choice. However, they wouldn’t go to extreme lengths like disowning me.

Do you attach more weight to what your mother says than what your father does?

No, no, absolutely not.

Have you ever sat on a parapet and passed comments on girls passing by?

No. But when I get together with a bunch of guy friends, we do talk about cars, women, politics and business, in that order.

Tell me how comfortable are you with the concept of what they call the ‘liberated woman’?

Totally. Who wants a woman any other way? Who wants a housewife who is a doormat?

Do you agree with Akshaye’s views on women? Tell t2@abpmail.com