Mumbai, Aug 5 (IANS) After refraining from masala movies for years, Rahul Khanna, known for his performances in Deepa Mehta's "1947 Earth" and "Bollywood Hollywood", makes his foray into mainstream Hindi cinema with Saif Ali Khan's first production venture.Rahul, actor Vinod Khanna's son and Akshaye's brother, has a very special role in the film being directed by Imtiaz Ali of Jab We Met fame. The movie also features Saif and Deepika Padukone.

Talking about Rahul's role in his home production, Saif said: "We needed someone with grace, dignity, charm, class and a sound educational background to play the role. Rahul was our first choice. Thankfully, he said yes."

Since this is Saif's own production and he is starring in it as well, how sizeable could Rahul's role be?

"Depends on how you define 'sizeable'. His role is pivotal to the plot and cannot be measured in terms of footage. For the film to be effective, it is important for Rahul to be effective," Saif told IANS.

Considering both Saif and Rahul are star children, have they been bonding from childhood?

"Not really," Saif admitted. "I've met Rahul just a few times over the years. He seems to be great fun. Charming and intelligent."

It is not just Saif that Rahul is bonding with - if all goes well, Rahul will be working with another one of his father's colleague's sons.

Rahul will play a small but important role in Karan Johar's production featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma.

Said an industry source: "Karan has known Rahul and Akshaye since childhood. For long he has been looking for a place to accommodate Rahul. The Ranbir-Konkona film allows him that space."

Get an email update when major stories break! Your email is kept confidential and is never given out to anyone. To sign up for our email updates, click here.