Mumbai, April 19 (IANS): The very versatile and committed Amole Gupte is a reluctant actor. Proof of this lies in the fact that he he has just edited himself out of his own directorial venture "Hawaa Hawaai".

"I took it off. I thought, what was I doing? It looked too gimmicky. Subhash Ghai can make an appearance in his films because he makes larger-than-life films. My film is too true to life for gimmicks," he said.

"Hawaa Hawaai" is set for release May 9. He had a cameo in the film but decided to delete it.

The film is about a roller-skating teacher (Saqib Saleem) and his favourite pupil (played by Amole's very talented son Partho).

He will, however, be seen in Rohit Shetty's "Singham 2". He said yes to it only because he is a big fan of the "Golmaal" series. Amole's pre-condition for signing "Singham 2" - he must not play a Maharashtrian again.

"I've done the Maharashtrian villain in Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Kaminey'. So while Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor are Maharashtrians, I am not. We thought it would be too much of a cliche to pitch a Maharashtrian hero against a Maharashtrian villain. So my character of the villain would not be region-specific."

Amole, who went through a health scare last year is taking no chances with his physiology. For his new role in Shetty's film, Amole needs to put on weight.

"I lost weight last year because of my health issues. I need to look heftier for my role in Rohit's film. I'm routing my weight-gain through a nutritionist. I've to be very careful because I am diabetic," he said.

mole thought over Shetty's "Singham 2" offer for just a day.

"I almost immediately decided to do it. I knew there would be no filth. By the way,I was also offered Indra Kumar's 'Grand Masti', Kaizad Gustad's 'Jackpot' and Mohit Suri's 'Villain'.

"But during the months of November and December there was no way I could take time off from the shooting of my own film 'Hawaa Hawaai'."