'I play a desi Robin Hood'
Ashish Sharma plays Avdesh Singh, a gangster with a heart of gold.
After Salman Khan's Robin Hood inspired role as Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg, Ashish Sharma (who made his acting debut in Dibakar Banerjee's Love, Sex Aur Dhoka) plays a similar role on the small screen. Sharma's character in the serial, Avdesh Singh, is a gangster with a heart of gold. Singh respects women and is willing to punish his fellow gangsters if they tease any women, quite like Pandey in Dabangg. But quiz Sharma about it and the actor, who is a huge fan of Salman Khan, quickly denies it. He says, "Avdesh Singh is not as eccentric as Chulbul Pandey. He is a balanced man of few words. Avdesh Singh's character is loosely inspired by Prakash Shukla, a gangster from Uttar Pradesh. Set in a crime- infested town in eastern UP, the show portrays Avdesh Singh as the leader of a dreaded gang of criminals. But he is also revered for his intrinsic goodness. Avdesh is like a desi Robin Hood."
Sharma, who played a struggling actor in LSD, has managed to cash in on the success of the film. But the shift from the silver screen to television wasn't that easy for the actor. "A film shoot usually wraps up in a couple of months. But television shoots involve longer hours of work. Initially that proved to be a huge challenge for me. But now I have got used to it," he says.
Sharma had to attend numerous workshops to get his diction. "I am from Jaipur so the UP accent was new to me. I had to attend workshops to get the right accent. My mannerisms also had to be worked on." But the biggest challenge for the actor was giving up his six-pack abs for a more leaner look. "That upset me the most. I had worked for months to get those six-pack abs," he adds. Does he regret shifting from films to television? "Not at all. I'll continue to do films too. A lot of people thought that it was a foolish step to move to television. But for me it is all about the creative satisfaction I get. I was initially apprehensive about taking it up. But after reading the script I agreed to be a part of it as the plot was very interesting."
Acting comes naturally to Sharma who was actively involved in theatre while he was at Jaipur, but that didn't stop the actor from taking acting lessons in Mumbai too. "In Jaipur, I did almost everything from regional theatre to Shakespeare's plays. But when I shifted to Mumbai , I joined Anupam Kher's academy, Actor Prepares, to hone my acting skills." New to the city, Sharma has not been able to explore Mumbai due to his busy schedule. But that has not stopped the actor from watching Dabangg. Speaking about Salman Khan's role in the film, he says, "I totally idolise Salman. I watched Dabangg recently and in my opinion only someone like Salman could have pulled off such a role. He's a rockstar."
The Jaipur-based actor has fallen in love with the Mumbai city but misses his home- town at times. However, he doesn't plan to go back home soon. "I can't stand the slow pace of Jaipur anymore. I like staying in Mumbai as everyone is on the move," he says. Ask him how Gunahon Ka Devta will progress and he quickly replies, "As the serial progresses, Avdesh falls in love. But as he has grown up in an environment of crime and revenge he doesn't know what love is. But his attitude does undergo a change after that." As for his future plans, Sharma plans to continue acting in films along with television. Among the films lined up he has independent filmmaker Nidhish Puuzhakkal's Youthopia co-starring Abhay Deol, Pratik Babbar and Shruti Hassan, Arup Dutta's Dillogical and Nikhil Sinha's Alha Udal. Sharma will also be seen playing the lead in Puuzhakkal's documentary, Undertaker, which was selected for the Los Angeles Film Festival.
As per the ongoing story line, Avdesh (
Tu Dhadkan Main Dil
Hindi TV Shows
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
