Shaleen Bhanot proved his acting mettle to everyone with his latest role of Duryodhan on the popular mythological show, ‘Suryaputra Karn’. Apart from his performance, the handsome actor was also recently in the news for his impending divorce with wife Daljeet Kaur.
The show will be concluding next week and Shaleen recently completed his shoot and has returned back to Mumbai. And guess what, he is already working his way up. The self-confessed workaholic actor says that he loves to work on a constant basis. Already, Shaleen has a film lined up, titled Love Ke Funday which releases today.
Tell us about your film, Love Ke Funday.
The film is all about the today’s fundas (concepts) of love. Love has evolved since the olden times and this film depicts that in a comic way. In this romcom, I play Aryan, the owner of a lounge, who is a player and leads a flamboyant lifestyle. He believes in having no strings attached sort of relationships. But his fundas, slowly begin changing when he meets his special someone which will be played by actress, Pooja Bannerjee. Apart from us, there are three other pairs in the film.
You just completed the shoot for your show Suryaputra Karn. How was the whole experience?
Suryaputra Karn was a beautiful, amazing, but tiring journey. One thing that the show taught me was that there is nothing like a positive or negative person. People have given me so much love through the show.
You played a very aggressive character on the show, of Duryodhan. How was that experience?
I absolutely loved playing Duryodhan. Playing the role for a year, I still could feel the variations in the character. Initially, I never thought that I’d be able to pull off Duryodhan. A veteran like Puneet Issar essayed that role way back and is still remembered for the same. And it was very difficult for me to break that image and create one of my own.
Aren’t you afraid of being stereotyped after doing a mythological show like Karn?
No. We did not shoot ‘Suryaputra Karn’ on a hardcore mythological scale. And also, the industry has become smart these days. It does not stereotype actors. I have been offered all kinds of shows, so, there is no fear of being stereotyped anymore.
Do you have a wishlist of what kind of projects that you would love to do in the near future? Are you open to doing shows that have a supernatural element as such shows are on great demand today?
As of now, I will be taking a good break. But on the work front, I am lucky that I do not get the usual boy-next-door offers and instead get offers where a lot of physical dedication is needed. As for the shape-shifting characters, I have already played a Naag before, in the first show, ‘Naagin’. Now, I would love to experiment with a variety of characters.
Films, or television, which suits you the best?
I love television. Having said that, for me, films or TV is one and the same. Its the same surroundings everywhere; camera, dialogues and sets.
Are you open to doing reality shows now that you have are on a break?
I would love to do a dance reality show again. Not many know that I have a keen interest in dancing. I learned dance from Habiba Rehman and I consider her my guru. But now that I have some free time to myself, I would love to learn more international dance forms.
We wish Shaleen all the luck for his film.