Every single girl’s dream man-Sharad

He's the guy every girl wants to take home to mama. As Nahaar Singh in the popular show Saat Phere, actor Sharad Kelkar has fans ranging from 16 to 60. And he's delighted with all the attention.

You have an awesome female following. Comment.
I sure do. My fan mail can vouch for that. It's funny but I often hear women remark 'jamai ho to aisa'. Recently I was in USA and the girls out there couldn't believe that I was married. They were heart-broken.

And whom would you attribute this sudden popularity to?
Of course my well sketched character in Saat Phere. Nahaar is a perfect guy with all the good qualities one can imagine a man to have. Also his complete devotion to his wife makes him likeable. He has an emotional side, which shows up when his mysterious past is unearthed. Also what stands in his favour is his aristocratic personality. We worked on the look to make it look rich and outstanding.

Did you have to audition for the part?
Actually I was doing Sinndoor Tere Naam Ka when my friend Shweta Kawatra spoke to me about this show. She was supposed to do the show and had recommended my name for this Rajasthani aristocrat. So I went and auditioned for it. Fortunately, I fit the role to a T and they signed me on. And guess what, Shweta had to drop out because of date problems.

Weren't you apprehensive about doing a woman-oriented show?
Not at all. The show is essentially Saloni ka safar, but the other parts are also pivotal to the main plot. They have as much importance if not more be it Akshay Anand, Apara Mehta or myself. Moreover my character has so many shades to it which gives me a lot of scope to emote.

How is the rapport between the cast?
Fantastic. There are times when we don't even realise when the day draws to an end because we are having so much fun. Rajshri and I are always up to pranks. People who see us together remark 'bacche hai, bigad rahe hai' (laughs). But the tension-free atmosphere helps us in delivering our work well.

You are said to be a family man?
It's only a year and half that I am married to Kirti Gaekwad (she played his ex-wife in Saat Phere). We had worked together in my first show on DD titled Aakrosh. There were no sparks at all at that point. It was only during the audition of CID Special Squad that we developed feelings for each other. Though she couldn't do the show, it helped us in coming close. Today I am happily married. I am trying to give time to my marriage which is becoming very difficult because we both are working.

Any more projects on the anvil?
I was doing two dailies till now. As a result I ended up shooting for almost 16 hours a day and that was getting very taxing. So now I have decided to concentrate only on Saat Phere and have taken up hosting Shaabash India on Zee TV. I am on the lookout for a weekly which will take less of my time and will also keep me sufficiently busy.