ShantanuMaheshwari, A person on whom I can go on and on, even though not a typical fan girl but definitely an admirer of him.Dated back to 2011, is when we saw a lad in his 19 step into this big ruthless industry. Never did anyone know or had even a least bit of idea that he'll be one of the most popular faces of Indian television in the future. When D3 started, there was only Swayam the loverboy present in most of our hearts, people were head over heels for Swayam but not Shantanu, so what changed people's perspective and made them love Shantanu more than Swayam! I'll list em in points :)
1: SwaRon, for me till 2013 it was ONLY Swayam's story and NOT SwaRon! It was Swayam the loverboy who made me believe in SwaRon story, and all thanks to Mr Maheshwari for playing the role so well that, never for once I felt the dearth of Sharon's stance in the story! The way Swayam the loverboy began and the way Shantanu portrayed the loverboy character, it just made me ignore the other part of SwaRon story. I still say Swayam the loverboy is nothing real but it's all hypothetical, but the way Shantanu carried off this character is something inexplicably! He made me feel that Swayam can be true too. The love of Swayam towards Sharon carried 100s of emotion in it,and required an experienced hand to handle it, but Shantanu being just 19 with 0 experience in theater managed it beautifully single handedly! So kudos to his efforts and also kudos to Palki Maam for choosing him as our Swayam, if not him I DONT think anyone else could have justified it :) Right from his looks to the way he carried himself was just bang on! So I would say, It's only Shantanu who can be Swayam the loverboy and none can even match Upto him. Period.
2: Initially I had no clue about the offscreen matters of D3, but suddenly I came across few things which hurt me, but increased my respect for him. This was in 2012 when not only SwaRon story had to undergo the rough patch but Shantanu too had to bear the brunt! Yes, it was when D3's offscreen issues began affecting onscreen flow of the show. This was the time when people bashed him relentlessly without any wrong of his. It hurt me to see people bashing him on a personal level because of other's wrong doings. It also hurt me to see a person who was always ready to do anything for SwaRon being bashed to an extent where his professionalism was being questioned due to others wrong doings! And it was all the more hurting to see people misunderstood him so easily that the didn't even think what might he had to undergo due to all this. Though not a fan girl as such, but these things definitely hurt me. But but, even after going through all this was there anything lacking in his portrayal of Swayam onscreen? NO! He portrayed the character with same conviction and dedication, without even letting people know that he has been having a rough time. That's what is called dedication. He justified the character with same utmost perfection even when he was going through rigorous bashing by the fans! Hatsoff to this guy for being a thorough professional at this young age :) He made me love Swayam and him more and more! In one word #Respect!
The time passed, and swaron got a new facet when Vrushika Mehta stepped in as Sharon. Initially I wasn't keen about following the show as I had lost interest in it, but an interview of Shantanu came up where he requested fans to give Vrushi a chance, and also kept on stressing about the hardwork that she put it! This is when I decided to give SwaRon story a chance and today I happily say that I made a right decision of giving it a chance. Not only I see a happier SwaRon now but also a happier Shantanu now. Today I love SwaRon because of Shantanu whose confidence on Vrushika and Palki maam gave us fans a confidence in SwaRon! So thanks to him!
Lastly I would say is, Shantanu your contribution to SwaRon story is beyond words! Im a proud Shantanu fan, a proud Vrushi fan and a proud VruShan fan :)
9