'What is wrong in playing a negative role', questions Shagun

Shagun Pandey, the antagonist of Zee TV's Tujhse Hai Raabta talks about being trolled online for his negative role in the show.

Talented youngster Shagun Pandey started his stint in Zee TV's popular show Tujhse Hai Raabta as the silent charmer Atharva Bapat but with time, his character has grown on to be the most cunning and evil-minded one!!

Shagun has been receiving huge support from his team that includes his Producer (Full House Media), Creative, Director and channel to bring in his inputs to the character. However, the mindset of the viewers in general seems to have made Shagun disappointed!!

Says Shagun, "Craft-wise, I am a very happy man. My role is going great and Atharva has grown to be a really nasty evil guy. But I tend to get disappointed at times seeing the reactions coming from fans on social media. The amount of negativity that gets spread owing to online trolling really puts me off sometimes. There is a clear assumption in the viewers' minds that if a guy is decent looking and has decent skills, he / she should always opt for positive characters. I beg to differ here!! I ask them what is wrong in playing a negative role? Positive characters gain motivation of being positive only because of the presence of the negatives around.

"In movies, a personal figure is much bigger than the character portrayed. However, in TV, people know you for the character you play, and the actor is hardly known. They tend to assume that the actor is more or less like the character he plays. I get so many messages that are very negative. With this, I am starting to explore and discover that audiences of today have probably not turned smart enough to differentiate between the actor and the role played. While I am getting appreciated a lot by my team, industry people and the ones who know the craft well, it is not the same when it comes to reactions on social media, he explains.

"I have heard that audiences have grown and teenagers are smart. But it does not seem so in my case. If you personally ask me, I will say that I am very happy and satisfied to be playing this character. It has worked for the show and also for me. As an actor, I want to play all kinds of characters that are possibly in my range. At the same time, I truly hope that viewers understand that it is the job of an actor to play any given role well; it might be a positive role or a negative one, states Shagun authoritatively.

Shagun, hope your concern is heard!! Continue to give your best.