‘Theatre made me fall in love with acting’

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‘Theatre made me fall in love with acting’

Sunday, 30 May 2021 | Shalini Saksena

‘Theatre made me fall in love with acting’

RAJAT VERMA, who shot to fame playing Rishi in Beyhadh 2, is now playing a parallel lead role on Sony TV’s Ishk Par Zor Nahi. SHALINI SAKSENA chats him up

What is Ishk Par Zor Nahi about?

The show is about two ideologies related to marriage and how they collide in this situation. Hence, the parallel lead. The show progresses from here on and every character here has different views about how they perceive love and marriage, be it the character who plays my elder brother, everyone has a different take.

Tell us about your role.

I play Kartik. He is witty and whatever he says resonates with how people think in real life. His thoughts are similar to how the young think today — there should be equality between men and women — that a woman should be allowed to work because she is capable of working and looking after the home as well. This is such a positive message to send out to the viewers. I feel that my character’s views are progressive and on the right track.

What made you say yes?

First, the director of Beyhadh 2, is the director of this show as well. But he left this show mid-way due to a family emergency. When he approached me for Ishk Par… I couldn’t say no to the project. Second, in Beyhadh, my character, despite being good, was small. I couldn’t explore different shades that a character can have. With Kartik, I have that opportunity.

How much do you identify with Kartik?

This is another reason why I agreed to this project, Kartik is very close to what and who I am in real life. Kartik is from Delhi; he is 22-23. He is like how people are at this age. I am from Noida; a lot of my friends are from Delhi. I am able to relate to how they speak and think. Kartik’s thinking about equality is something that I subscribe to as well. It made it easy for me to play this role. There are some things that one keeps hidden in real life, we don’t want to show people certain aspects of our life, Kartik is able to showcase all that.

Did you think your character in Beyhadh2 would get so much attention?

I was not expecting it at all. Jennifer Winget, was someone that I looked up to when I was in my teens. When I was offered the show, I knew that I would not say no. I had to work with her. Beyhadh had become a brand even before Season 2 was announced. I knew that this season would be loved as well even though my role was for a short span. I had given it my 100 per cent and am glade people appreciated my work there.

You did comic content on YouTube. Tell us about that.

I created content and started with a web series – Nalayaks Season 1 & 2 with Nazarbattu Productions on YouTube. I wanted to work on the digital platform; that was the time when TikTok was at its peak. It led to the era of influencers and I too got inspired from this and decided to explore this platform. Then the production house offered me to do comedy sketches. During my Mass Communication days, we would make short videos. Doing these sketches made it easy for me to understand cinema better.

How did acting happen?

It’s a long story. I was in Lucknow and did a fashion show. That got me interested. I was already on the stage before acting happened. When I dropped BTech, I was looking for something to do. Family and friends would tell me that I was a bit of a nautanki baaz and decided to explore acting. I got to work with Ras Theatre Group. I got a lot of clarity there. Theatre made me fall in love with acting.

Is it tough to shoot during the present pandemic?

It’s been rather tough. Where we go, the place where we have to shoot, one has to take a lot of precautions. We have to be careful who we meet, who we speak with. We keep having quick COVID-19 tests. In our subconscious mind there is constant stress. On the sets, we have senior actors as well. We have to be careful that they remain healthy. I am lucky that my parents were not with me when I was shooting in Mumbai, they are in Delhi. Otherwise, I would have kept myself in one room.

What next?

At present, I am concentrating on this show but am also looking for other projects that offer me a chance to explore different shades and characters. Due to the pandemic, it is tough to deal with it. I am grateful that I have work.

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