Bollywod stars and their hidden passions

When he's not in the studios, Nana Patekar usually shuts himself up in his Pune farmhouse and practises shooting -- no, not people -- but with rifle and target range!

An avid shooter, Nana recently decided to take his interest to another level when he participated in the National Shooting Championship in Pune.

He's among the growing list of Bollywood stars who moonlight with their secret passion for sports and often take time out from their hectic schedule to pursue their favourite pastime.

Here's looking at Bollywood actors and their engagement with sports:

Nana Patekar, Shooting

The unflappable encounter specialist from Ab Tak Chhappan believes shooting has had a therapeutic effect on him. Nana has been an ardent practitioner of the sport for about a decade. His often cites his one-and-half month rigorous training near Pune as life-altering.

Let's not just talk about cricket in context of Aamir simply because he worked in cricket-based films like Awwal Number and Lagaan and just because he got down into the field at Panchgani for a game of cricket on the day he got married to Kiran Rao.

Aamir's real passion is tennis. Aamir was a state-level champion in school and plays tennis every now and then -- sometimes even on film sets!

When you have a legend like Prakash Padukone for a father, badminton is in your genes. Deepika actively played the sport while in school and university. Her parents had hoped that she would someday follow in her father's footsteps.

Like in Deepika's case, Saif's father, the late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, had dreamed that his son would become a cricketer like him. At one point, Saif had nearly made up his mind to take up cricket.

In later years, the actor would fondly talk about how he grew up with cricket around him, and that every time he would break the windowpanes of Pataudi palace, his grandmother would spare him if it was a good shot.

The alcoholic coach from Iqbal was at first taken up by cricket like most Indians. Now, it's tennis that serves up right for the legendary actor.

He plays tennis as often as possible and not only for pleasure but also for health reasons.

You are unlikely to meet anyone as passionate about rugby as Rahul Bose. He has represented the Indian rugby team and has often expressed his deep interest and desire to pursue the sport more actively.

The poet-filmmaker is an avowed devotee of tennis but most people don't believe that because they have a particular image of Gulzar. He starts his day early and it's rarely complete without a friendly game.

His tennis buddy happens to be Naseeruddin Shah.

A fixture at Mumbai Marathon, the dishy model was a champion swimmer in school and won the National Swimming title in 1984. He often says, with great pride, that swimming is the reason why he is fit and in great shape.

Like guru, like student.

Mentor Gulzar and Vishal share many common interests and one of them is tennis. They play together at times and follow the sport with the same passion as Urdu poetry and music.