PROFILE: Nikhil Arya who stars as Rudra

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Posted: 20 years ago

New Delhi, April 3: He is handsome. He is successful. And he is one of the more eligible bachelors in tellytown. We are talking of Nikhil Arya aka Rudra of Kesar on Star Plus (he was Nikhil Saklani before he changed it to Arya). Arya believes he is doing a good job on Kesar, ''and that's what matters the most. Besides the glamour there is lot of hard work on television and I am working hard. Every day is a learning day. After a good scene when senior actors like Pratima Kazmi or Surekha Sikri come up and tell me I am good, it's very satisfying. When my parents call me and tell me specially about a particular scene it makes me happy,'' says Nikhil. He says enjoys being Rudra on screen more so because the character in the show is quite different from his own in real life.

As you might know, Rudra is this spoilt brat with a silver spoon in his mouth - leastways that is how he started out. He is a Casanova, a playboy, who's got everything in life without asking for it. For whom love didn't mean anything until he met Kesar. ''Playing Rudra didn't come naturally to me,'' he states, matter-of-fact, ''I mean I was also brought up with all the luxuries of life, but I never misused it. Rudra has no values... I do. Love means a lot to me. I am more disciplined. So playing Rudra was a big challenge. But I love my role. I never knew I would be so passionate about acting. I am enjoying it completely. He has so many shades,'' adds the young actor.

Do you know what Arya would have been doing without Rudra? Assisting his father in their family business of copper wires. Call this destiny. A chance visit, a business trip to Mumbai from Pune where he lives and life changed topsy-turvy. He met Hemant Trivedi who told him to give modelling a shot and so he put together a portfolio within two days and landed up doing Pankaj Udhas' video of Kya Mujhse Dosti Karoge. There followed ad films like Raymonds, Ponds, Airtel, BPL and a few other music videos until a call from Balaji came through with the Kesar offer and his life took a new turn. ''Well, I was getting television offers but I wasn't really into them. When I was offered the role in Kesar it struck me as interesting - and so was the money! Till then I had never thought I would be a part of all this as I had never even watched serials till then. But here I am. And, like I said, every day I learn something and try to improve,'' he says. Practice makes a man perfect, Nikhil.