PROFILE: Diwakar Pundir,

Lucknow, July 29: Straightforward, simple, down-to-earth, and of course good-looking. One of the most successful models who took the road to Bollywood and tellytown quite successfully. He won the renowned title of Gladrags Mr.India in 1998 and you have seen him in several commercials like Tata Safari, Whirlpool, Vicks, Lifebuoy, Ford Ikon, Denim Tale. ''Denim was my first after I won the title. I must have done about 100 ad films in about seven years,'' says Diwakar Pundir whom tellybuffs know as the anchor of Crime Patrol and Sambhav of Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki.

Now he's entered Shakuntalam Film's daily on Zee Reth which is doing well in the noon slot. In this one he plays Shom, a lawyer ''who comes into the story at the hospital where he meets Jia and how he keeps bumping into her. Shom is a man who is after money but he is also fun. He is very lively. He plays the guitar. He is a bit of an alcoholic. Everything he does is in a unique style,'' he explains quite seriously. ''I am enjoy playing him. Because there is so much to do. I am really kicked about it and so are the producers,'' he adds. This good-looking guy made his debut anchoring Crime Patrol on Sony, though, later, he quit. ''It was a reality show. It was different. I had never done anchoring before,'' says Pundir who did a good job as Sambhav, the rich businessman who Shruti worked for in Kahani... ''Even that was an interesting part. Basically, in between my film assignments I am looking for good television. I want to try different things,'' states Pundir who's got about half a dozen films as the lead actor, up his sleeve. Some time ago, he was seen in the Om Puri starrer King of Bollywood which was comedy in which he plays Puri's son, the romantic lead opposite British actress Sophie Dahl.