Supermodel Upen Patel , whose debut film 36 China Town releases next week, says his journey from being supermodel to superstar has begun.

When asked where he sees himself in the current set of superstars and supermodels, Upen replied, "If I become superstar, that will be great. Right now, it is a journey from being supermodel to superstar." Patel, an NRI born and brought up in London, has been a model in India for the past three years. He said he believed modelling and beauty pageants are not a backdoor entry to Indian Cinema.

Stating, "In fact, they are a front door entry. Look at me; I made it without any godfather and help. Arjun Rampal is not from Gladrags, but he made it too."

Director duo Abbas-Mastan's next film 36 China Town is Upen’s debut film. He co-stars with Akshay Khanna, Shahid Kapur and Kareena Kapoor. Patel rubbished statements such as "models make wooden actors", " You see me in 36 China Town and know what I am saying."

On his role, Upen said, "I play Rocky, a predictable fun-loving guy who is at the wrong place at the wrong time and hence the cops are continuously suspicious of him."

Patel, who has a Bachelor in Computer Science, became a model in 2002 when ace photographer Atul Kasbekar spotted him and gave him a break. Patel took up the offer in order to earn pocket money. Since then, he has been a star on the ramp, earning various fashion awards and endorsing several leading brands.

Last year, fate smiled on him in the form of films. Subhash Ghai, who kept an entire stack of Patel’s portfolio, approached him, telling Patel that he had been following his career for the last eight months. Ghai madePatel an offer, saying that if Patel did not like the character offered, Ghai would give him another offer in a parallel lead in another film by him.

Patel grabbed at the offer saying, "You can't say no to Subhash Ghai and Abbas-Mastan."

His personal idols are Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjay Dutt.

A supermodel on the ramp, Patel does not seem like a novice when it comes to films either. He has an impressive schedule in his kitty. The next film by Sunil Darshan, which also stars Bobby Deoland will go on floors in June. Vipul Shah's next "Namaste London", which also stars Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif and Abbas-Mastan's next untitled film, which stars Sanjay Dutt.

He has been taking Hindi classes to improve his diction in order to prepare for his roles, as he says, "I am quite flexible as far as action and dancing is concerned."

Patel was in news at the Fashion Week in Delhi, where he shared the ramp with Shweta Bachchan Nanda for Abu-Sandeep. "Oh, that was great. Shweta was nice. I feel honoured to have worked with Amitabh Bachchan's daughter."

When asked about the "wardrobe malfunction" in the Mumbai Fashion week, the model-turned-actor felt the media was making an issue out of nothing. "A garment just fell off. Nothing about it. The models are not angry at all."

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