Udaan actor PARAS ARORA talks to MUSBA HASHMI about the breaks in his career, acting journey and approach to acting

From Ravan to Guddu, how have you evolved as an artist?

I was just 13 when I started acting. I liked dancing. So, my father took me to Mumbai to give a push to my talent. I auditioned for Ravan’s role and got selected. Back then, I never looked at acting as work, it was passion for me. It was only when I got to work in Veer Shivaji that I became more serious towards acting and thought of taking it up as a career. It was a big show for me and I started understanding things better. In between, I did a lot of shows. I did a couple of films as well. And now I am playing Guddu in Baavle Utaavle. The journey has been good, I have got to learn a lot many things, people started knowing me and things have been fine. I have explored almost all genres, comedy was left and I am getting to do that in Baavle Utaavle.

Which was the most challenging role?

The most difficult for me up till now is Guddu. I took a lot of workshops for this role. My favourite role has been Abhimanyu from Mahabharat.

How has the journey been so far?

I didn’t have to wait too much for work. It came easy to me. But, shifting from Bareily to Mumbai was a bit of struggle. When I started doing historical shows, all went fine but when I did Rajjo, it didn’t work out for me. It was a big project and there were lot of expectations from the project but it just didn’t click. I decided to wait to get good work. I did not want to be typecast — ki yeh to bas historical shows achchey karta hai. I decided to take a break. I got many offers for historical shows but I didn’t take them up. There were breaks in my career but it was just because I wasn’t getting the work I wanted to do. I am happy with my progress — slow and steady.

How do you define acting and what is your approach towards it?

Acting is my life. I can’t imagine myself anything else , but to be an actor. There should always be some side options because acting is not a secure field. But, I have become so involved in the last two-three years that I find other things difficult.

I am a spontaneous actor and instinctive. I don’t believe practicing and preparing scenes in the make-up room. I just go to the sets, read my script thoroughly and just go with the flow.

You have explored almost all genres on TV, which is the toughest?

Comedy. In daily soap, you get the time to relax. When the camera is focusing on the other character, you can be completely blank with your emotions. With comedy you have to be in tune with the characters. You have to match the timing with each and every character present on the set and maintain the connectivity with the audience. Reactions are also a bit over the top in comedy shows.

How do you think you were able to survive in the industry despite all the challenges?

If you are good at your work and are grounded then work will always find you. You have to stay positive. Luck also plays a major part when it comes to surviving in the industry. There may be many actors who are struggling to make a place for themselves. Some may be better than me, so luck matters a lot. People say agar Mumbai aap ko ek baar apna le toh kabhi vapas janey nahin deti.

Any upcoming projects.

At present, I am only focusing on my show Baavle Utaavle. While you are doing TV, you don’t get enough time to be a part of any other project.