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EXCLUSIVE: Sharad Malhotra: Television is 'daal chaawal' for me which will always be there
Sharad Malhotra is soon going to make an announcement about his upcoming projects.
Sharad Malhotra has been in the television industry for more than 16 years and his last outing on the small screen was Vidrohi. The show wrapped up in merely five months leaving the audience and the artists a bit disappointed. Sharad, however, has moved on, and looks forward to his upcoming projects, and promises to announce them soon for his fans. In this exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, he has shared his views about Vidrohi's shorter shelf life, anxiousness in the artist's life, and dabbling into various mediums. Read on:
On his relationship with the audience
After 16-17 years, I can say that I have been living with them in their living rooms for a while. I've been a part of their journey and they have been a part of my journey too. We've kind of co-existed all these years. It's about them welcoming me. That acceptance is very important, and once they know that they love you, it can't be taken for granted and you've got to work harder for it.
On gaining recognition in the form of awards
In today's times, there's so much competition, that the word complacency doesn't even exist in our dictionary. We have to keep striving and the next project needs to keep getting better. Also, I've been very lucky in terms of getting good characters. I could play around and graph it the way I wanted to. There's a luck factor to it but there's also an enormous amount of struggle too. It's not that you always have to be at the right place at the right time but what after that? Then you have to prove it with hard work, the endless grind. Now people are saying, 'Wow, you are getting awards' but I want to say, 'Award ke peeche ki jo meri kahaani hai vo toh ek baar dekh lo.'
About the anxiousness actors go through
There are days when I get anxious, 'What next?' Because you don't know what might pop up. Those days of uncertainties are also there but you have to see the silver lining to everything. I am looking forward to my next character, I don't know where and when but I'm in talks for a few projects and something should happen soon.
On dabbling with various mediums
OTT, TV, I am open to both. TV is my first love. It has been my bread, butter, and jam, and I've had a wonderful stint on it. I've been very lucky to be a part of two major historical shows. I've done drama, super-natural, and action. In terms of the palette, I would want to experiment with other genres on various platforms too. OTT is definitely something that is on my mind. Television is 'daal chaawal' for me, which will always be there till the end of time. As an actor, you need to experiment and push your boundaries as well. There are a few things in the pipeline and in a few days, I shall be announcing them soon.
On Vidrohi's abrupt end
As an actor, you just got to act and cannot get into commercials and marketing. I cannot get into the nitty-gritty of why the show is working and why it isn't. That's totally different math. When all your projects have that kind of run for 2-3 years, suddenly you have a show which winds up before you've even expected then you have that little question popping up in your head, 'What happened? Where did we go wrong?' It's not like your entire world comes crashing down or you end up sulking for the rest of your lives. Fortunately, my characters have been stuck with the audience. My character, Bakshi Jagabandhu will always remain very special to me. If the show runs for a longer period, it does make a difference. The recall value is high but I would have liked had Vidrohi run for a couple of months more.
