He is known as the Aamir Khan of the south. But despite wowing audiences with his first Bollywood film "Rang De Basanti", Siddharth has no intention of moving bag and baggage to Mumbai to pursue a career.
"But, of course, I am open to good offers. The only problem," Siddharth revealed shyly in an interview with IANS, "is that I am very picky. In five years, I have done only five films. I like to choose my roles carefully."

Tell me about yourself...where do you come from?
I am a Tamil. My school education was spread over Delhi and Chennai. I did my B.Com (Hons) from Kirorimal College in Delhi University. I got my MBA from the S.P. Jain Institute of Management in Mumbai. Then came the assistant director stint with Mani Ratnam for a couple of years. Acting happened by chance, and the rest is a blur.

How true are the rumours linking you with Soha Ali Khan?
Hey where does this rumour come from? Soha was just a co-star nothing else.
She is a sweet girl and an absolute professional on the sets.

You are known as the Aamir of the south. Why have you done such a small body of work in five years? And do you really charge Rs.20 million?
I am a bit of a paranoid actor. I started off as an assistant director to Mani Ratnam. Direction was passionately my ultimate dream. When I suddenly became a screen actor, I took a reality check and promised myself to only commit to work that completely excited me. It isn't really my fault that such projects were very few in number. Also, I am building a CV of serious standing.

Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Prabhu Deva, Rakeysh Mehra... these guys make going to work so much fun. I am only five films old. As for the Rs.20 million, it sounds lovely. I haven't seen it yet.

Why do you prefer first time directors?
It is purely dependent on demand and supply factor. If you look at the top 5 Telugu films, all of them are heavy-duty action flicks. I am doing mostly soft love stories. Hence I have to depend on scripts rather than top directors. It works out that way to me. And new directors are good at doing class films compared to established big time directors.

Your birthday is on 17th April. How old are you?
You can google it or read it in Wikipedia. There are urban legends about my age. I am as old as the character in my next film. Watch Oy and guess my age.

How did you meet Mani Ratnam?
Just after college, I was so desperate to get a toehold in the movie industry. I have always considered Mr Mani Ratnam to be one of the finest film-makers. I was just this persistent youngster, who kept bombarding him with repeated mails requesting him for a five-minute appointment. When it finally happened, it was a huge relief.

Biggest decision of your life?
(After a long thought) Postponing my marriage by four years. I wanted to get married when I was 21. It was a tough one. But I must say I am happily married now.

Any person who has influenced your life in a big way?
Life is too big to be influenced by a single person. As a youngster, my life revolved around my parents, and now it goes around my wife Meghna. That's it

Do you want to say anything to ONLINE visitors?
I am always excited about my fans. I would like to request all of them to discourage piracy and support the producers.