II SHAHEER SHEIKH II **~ Bharata ARJUNA ~ ** AT#27 - Page 99

Saurav Gurjar has captivated the minds of viewers with his impeccable performance of the mighty Bheem in Star Plus' Mahabharat (Swastik Productions). And not many would believe that the actor, who is currently enjoying his days in the magnum opus show, was earlier part of Colors' Ring Ka King in which he played a wrestler.

Talking to Tellychakkar.com, the huge man said, "It's going great being in the show and I am really enjoying every moment of it. Having started as a professional wrestler, I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would become an actor. It was actually through Facebook that the makers got in touch with me and asked me to come on-board."

"I am a very introvert kind of person and my family is still in shock that I have become an actor. You won't believe that after I attended an acting workshop for just three days, I realized how difficult acting was and thus packed my bags to go back. I spoke to a friend to come and pick me up, but later he prevailed upon me and said that I can easily overcome this negative thought as I was a strong man who had fought huge wrestlers. This made me stay back and the rest just followed," informed Saurav.

So how did he manage to get into the skin of the character so well? "Initially language was a problem but my co-actor Naveen (Jingar) helped me a lot to get the hang of all rich words. Our team is a great one and we Pandavas bond really well off-screen too. Especially Shaheer (Sheikh) has helped me instill a lot of confidence in myself. He also keeps telling me to just forget everything and rather improvise on my acting," he said.

And when we asked him whether he followed the earlier Mahabharat, he answered, "My producer Siddharth Tewary was very clear that he did not want anything similar to the earlier one. He wanted that I bring Saurav's characteristics along with Bheem's features. Since I wanted the role to be realistic, I just read about Bheem and put my ideas in this character."

So any similarities between Bheem and Saurav, we asked. "Family comes first to both of us. Like him I too can lose my head if somebody talks ill about my family or tries to harm them. And apart from the physical resemblance I think both of us are big foodies (laughs)," he quipped.

And any challenge that he faces? "I guess when I am giving interviews, speaking English is a tough task. But here too Shaheer comes to my aid and tells me that I should just be myself and be confident about my qualities. So I guess, I am comfortable now and all raring to go," observed the actor.

And any future plans that he has chalked out for himself? "I have been approached with some good offers, but right now my complete concentration is on Mahabharat.

Also since wrestling is my first love I may actually get into international wrestling. Although I haven't had a chance to practice wrestling I make it a point to work out and keep myself fit even while we shoot," he concluded.

We wish you great success!

Looks like Shaheer is always present to help out his co-actors... ⭐️⭐️👏👏