Abhishek Bachchan's misses are a thing of the past. The industry now perceives him as the next best thing.

Actor Abhishek Bachchan is loving the fresh lease of life that his career has received. "Waking up in the morning and going to work gives me such a kick. I always wanted to become an actor and it's like I'm living my dream."

Abhishek is being touted as the new kid on the block. "There is no alternative to hard work. It's after six to seven years that good things are happening to me." Bluffmaster, Dhoom 2 and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna are the three films the actor is busy working on.

Plus, he's just signed two new movies: Ram Gopal Varma Ka Sholay, where he plays Dharmendra's role from the original and Umrao Jaan, where he plays the role that Farooque Shaikh played earlier.

Abhishek is quite a favourite with women, be it a housewife or a collegegoing girl. The actor blushes, "It's overwhelming. Any kind of appreciation is always welcome and cherished. I will never be able to repay them, but will continue to work harder."

Interestingly, Abhishek is excited about working in the new version of Sholay, where he'll be pitted against dad Amitabh Bachchan, who plays Gabbar Singh in the film. "I have lost count of the number of times I have seen Sholay. My favourite character in the film is the one played by my mother Jaya Bachchan. She has very little to say in the film, but even that was enough to leave a mark," he says.

Ask him why success eluded him for so long and he says, "In hindsight, I feel everything was wrong for me. I wasn't prepared to become an actor at that point. At a certain level, I was being little boyish about the whole thing and was very excited at the opportunity of doing a film with J P Dutta."

And is his famous surname an advantage or a disadvantage? "There are only advantages in being a Bachchan." But what about constant comparisons with dad? "I think for any son his benchmark and ideal would be his father. I'm fine with it."

Moving on to the personal front, is he single or steady? "It doesn't matter. I am happy. Period," he grins before quickly adding, "Where's the time for all this? I am so busy these days. I love the way my life is happening now!"