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Chat Actor Ashish Sharma of "Love Sex Aur Dhokha" fame on "Gunaaho Ka Devta"

Talking point with Ashish Sharma

The Love, Sex Aur Dhoka actor on playing a don on his debut television show, Gunahon Ka Devta

How has life changed after LSD?
LSD did to me, what it would have done to any newcomer — it brought me and my acting skills into limelight. Now, it is up to me to sustain this and make full use of it. It was a great experience. I learned a lot about films and acting.

How has the television experience been so far?
The best part about the Gunahon Ka Devta is that it is being shot like a film. We have regular workshops and the environment is more conducive to acting. I had my share of doubts while working on a television show. I want to be part of a medium that helps my groW*H as an actor. So far it's been very good.

Big movie stars are now showing interest in television. Is this what urged you to try your hand at a TV show?
Honestly, I was very apprehensive when I was approached for the show. I never wanted to play clichd male characters in soaps where female characters rule the roost. But, when I was explained the script of the show, I learned that the story revolves around a strong male protagonist. My character, Avdesh Singh Thakur, is inspired by a real life gangster, Uttar Pradesh's Shri Prakash Shukla.

Does acting come as a natural career?
When I was in Jaipur, I was very actively involved in theatre. I did almost everything from regional theatre to Shakespeare's play. And, when you are part of theatre you do much more like designing costumes, lighting and creating sets. Four years ago, I shifted to Mumbai and joined Anupam Kher's academy, Actor Prepares. It helped me hone my acting skills. So my past has been completely devoted to acting. I am very passionate about it.

After Salman Khan's Robin Hood-inspired turn in his latest hit Dabangg, Ashish Sharma, who made his acting debut with Love Sex Aur Dhokha, is all set to play a similar role on the small screen.

The 26-year-old actor's lead role of Avdesh Singh Thakur in Imagine's new show Gunahon Ka Devta draws heavily from the heroic outlaw of English folklore.

"The character of Avdesh is similar to that of Robin Hood. He is forced by circumstances to enter into crime at a very young age. Even though he is a bad guy, he has a heart of gold," Ashish said.

Set in a crime infested town in eastern UP, the show portrays Avdesh as the leader of a dreaded gang of criminals. But he is also revered for his intrinsic goodness, his sense of honour and humanity. He extorts money from the rich, only to help those in need.

Ashish says his character is loosely based on Sri Prakash Shukla, a young mafia don from UP who was killed in an encounter last year.

"The background of my character is the same as that of Shukla," said Ashish, who got rid of his chiselled gym-physique in order to look like a goon from the heartland.

"I had to get rid of my six packs and get into the 'akhada' look and shift from diet food to doodh malai," he added.

This is his first television show and the Jaipur-based actor was initially apprehensive about taking it up as he doesn't approve of the process behind making soaps and serials.

"I took up this show only because the process of making it was not like the usual soaps. We had a month-long workshop before shooting to get my dialect right and get into the feel of the character. The preparations were just like making a film," said Ashish.

The actor has two films in the pipeline, which will go on floors shortly. The first, Dillogical, is about the growing tendency among youngsters to commit suicide under pressures in life. The other one is named Youthopia and is the story of four kids and a cartoonist.

Reality Bytes

Actor Ashish Sharma is inspired by real life characters and taboo subjects

Champa's Paradise is not an easy read, but actor Ashish Sharma had gone over it again and again, trying to figure out whether he should play the part that's being offered to him or not.

"It's the story of a girl who ran away from home at 14, gets kidnapped in Kolkata only to find herself enslaved by a sadomasochist, a man who derives sexual gratification by inflicting or submitting to physical or emotional abuse. He is a trainer in sadomasochism and he takes her under his wing," says Sharma. Champa's painful letter to the UN had stirred them all, including the filmmaker Nidhish who is making Champa's Paradise. Today, Champa works with an UN NGO that helps prostitutes rehabilitate.

Sharma, meanwhile, has signed two more films — Youthopia, again by Nidhish about four friends who rebel for a cause and Arup Dutta's (of Morning Walk fame) Dillogical, the story of a boy who is about to commit suicide. The subjects offer a slice of life, being loosely inspired by life, news clippings and events and their biting reality makes them irresisitible as subject matter. Sharma was last seen in Dibakar Bannerjee's LSD, and ever since, he has felt that every tabooed subject and issues central to our lives should be brought to life on cinema.

"It excites me when censors slap an Adult certificate on a film just because it's vocal or expressive. I am not talking about po*n but films like Black Friday, Udaan and Dev D," says the actor whose first love remains theatre. "Theatre is an actor's medium whereas cinema and television are director's medium. They are clinical and technical in approach, you are confined to their VFX walls," he rues.