Interviewed by Deepti Chandak
Was acting your first love? You can definitely say acting is my first love. I realized that I was fascinated by movies in school and wanted to take part in theater but never got an opportunity. Coming from a middle-class family, I was compelled to pursue engineering. After completion of my computer engineering, I followed the herd and came to the US to pursue my Master's in Mathematics. I worked in the financial industry for six years before realizing that my real calling was becoming an actor. I was making money and had a stable job but my aspiration of becoming an Actor was too strong. So I decided to leave my job and dive into the world of cinema and since then I have been at it.
Who or what inspired you to become an actor ? Tell us about your journey. I was always fascinated by movies. So nothing in particular inspired me to become an actor. I just wanted to be part of the movies and so when I started my journey, I started with short films- my first flim was a silent movie.
My first short film " Grand St. Shaving Co."premiered at one of the Indian film festivals in New York . That's how my journey started with Apoorva Lakhia's Zanjeer, Sarabajit ,Hasina Parker and now Aarya The journey as an actor is constantly of learning and that's what fascinates me. You're constantly being challenged and you become better with every project, There's all kinds of inspiration. It just depends upon what phase you are in, and you get inspired accordingly. There's so much to take from around. For example, during college days I was fascinated by Shahrukh Khan. Then there was a phase where I was fascinated with Salman Khan & Hrithik Roshan. Now Tiger Shroff is an inspiration.
Have you progressed in your acting career as you have expected ? I did not expect too much from my acting career. I was and I am just enjoying being an actor. Every movie that I was a part of was like a dream come true and every project that I took up was bigger and better.
I feel I have progressed a lot as an actor, in terms of my career. I played a very small part in Zanjeer and, from there to my journey as a primary cast in Aarya and Crackdown is enriching. Now I am doing a movie with Ali Abbas Zafar starring Shahid Kapoor called "Bloody Daddy". So I have played different, complicated and complex characters. It has been a fruitful experience until now.
Tell us about your experience working with Aarya. We totally loved the series. Aarya has been a life changing experience . It changed me as an actor, as a person and completely changed my career path. The people involved in creating the series- Aarya Ram Madhvani, Sandeep Modi, and Vinod Rawat are immensely talented people. Working with Sushmita Sen was a surreal experience . She is a wonderful co actor & human being. I learned a lot from her. I enjoyed working on Aarya, and playing Sangram and then when season 1 came out so much love was given to me and my part was appreciated. So I was geared up to do better in Season 2. And thankfully season 2 came out and people appreciated it too. I've still been getting lots of messages on Instagram and Facebook. And then I go to airports, people recognize my character Sangram and I am humbled and can only express my gratitude to the audience . All the hard work has paid off.
And in fact, I am a huge fan of the Aarya series. I'm just thankful for this opportunity that came up.
Future projects that you are working on.
I have just finished shooting for Crackdowns (Season 2), which will be on voot, directed by Apoorva Lakhia. And I have just finished Bloody Daddy. I am in talks to feature in a couple of other projects that will be shared with all of you soon!
What's your dream? Where is this path heading for you ?
My dreams constantly change and my dream was honestly to be an actor. I think I'm on the right path. I've been constantly doing good work. I am satisfied with what I do.
I have been much calmer & relaxed lately. There was a time when I was very busy, the last two years were difficult for everybody with the COVID situation. We have never been exposed to such a pandemic in our lives. So it has given us an opportunity to introspect and understand the meaning of our fragile life.
I realized that work is not everything. My dream now is to lead a healthy, successful and happy life. Manage stress and keep it as low as possible and just be happy.
Dreams change constantly. We need something right now. When we achieve that, then it changes to something else. So, the goal and the dream is to be happy with whatever I do!