Tezpur, Dec. 19: He did not have to beg for it. The role fell into his bowl. He just had to be himself, but those few seconds on reel redefined his real life.

Paresh Rai aka Manoj Rai had been begging for more than a decade in the vicinity of the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, pretending to be blind as he pleaded for alms.

Today, at the Jonaki theatre here, where the Aamir Khan-starrer PK released, Manoj was no less a star for having rubbed shoulders with the star himself in the film.

Rai, who hails from Jahajghat here, told The Telegraph that he had never even dreamt of acting till one day three persons came over and asked him whether he would like to work in a film.

'That was on a footpath near Jantar Mantar. I told them, ' Kya sahab main kya acting karoonga (Sir, what acting can I do)'. The trio introduced themselves as being from the film industry in Mumbai. They went away leaving him with some money and a telephone number.

'One day, I called up the number and the person who answered asked me to go to Nehru Stadium. I went there the next day and found a film shooting was on. There were nine persons, including me, and after an audition I was selected for the role. During the 16 days that I spent with the unit, I was put up in a five star hotel... food was free and so was everything else,' Rai said with a twinkle in his eyes. 'I met Aamir Khan and he asked me ' tum karoge na .. ?' I only said, ' Haan ji'.

Manoj was born on January 14, 1986, at Jahajghat but lost his mother within three days. He studied up to Class V at Gandhi Ashram LP School but could not afford it further due to financial constraints and his ailing father. He eventually went off to Delhi looking for a job and failing to find one, started begging.

Rai regaled those who were listening - and there were many - with how he would have lunch with Aamir and Anushka Sharma and the other actors.

'Aamir Khan asked me about my home and I told him I was from Tezpur in Assam and how beautiful the city was and also invited him to come here at least once. He assured me he would come and finally did last year,' Rai said just before planting a big kiss on Aamir Khan staring out of the PK poster.

Narrating his brief role in the film, he said he was just required to be himself and beg by the roadside leaning on a stick. 'Aamir comes along dancing and steals some coins from my bowl,' Rai said.

He may have been robbed by Aamir Khan of some coins in his reel life but for his effort he was paid Rs 16,000. At Jantar Mantar he would average about Rs 300 a day.

Rai has since returned closer home, at Bedeti in Biswanath Chariali, about 120km from here, and works at a mobile phone shop.

He will be blind no more and beg no more. That's what PK has done to him.