’People link me with Amna’

By Subhash K Jha

Television's favourite pinup guy Rajiv Khandelwal is on a new high. Not only is his second daily Left Right Left on SAB channel a hit, he has also adopted a five-year old girl child.

He talks about it reluctantly. "I really don't want to make a public declaration of this. I've kept it a secret. But I guess it's bound to be out. Her name is Swati. I adopted her because I love kids specially little girls.

I saw her picture and fell in love with her face. I went to an institute called Muskaan and adopted her…Technically it's called sponsership. But to me she's my daughter."

Wouldn't this adopted child later cause problems for Rajiv when he has his own children?. "Why should it? To me there's no difference between my biological child and Swati."

Rajiv had been visiting this institute for a while. "I'm not sure Swati knows who I am. Each time she's asked she shyly says I'm on tv."

About his new hit show Rajiv says, "I took on my second daily in the same spirit as I took on Deal Ya No Deal. The idea is to go further as an actor. The pleasure of wearing an army uniform in a soap made me sign Left Right Left. I always wanted to be in the army.

This is my chance to make my dream come true. Unfortunately the show isn't as olive-green as I 'd have liked it to be. I guess I'm enjoying the content. The army isn't easy to portray on the small screen. We need to work even harder."

The show has garnered good TRPs. " The credit goes to the team. I wonder where are all those people who said I was doomed to failure when Deal Ya No Deal was doing badly?"

Rajiv agrees Left Right Left hasn't carried forward his popularity as Sujal on Ekta Kapoor's Kahiin To Hoga. "But give it time. The popularity of Sujal doesn't happen every day. If history is created everyday it becomes hysteria.

I find myself improving as an actor. I feel good about my performance on Left Right Left. I'd still like to do sparing work. As long as my financial needs are taken care of I'll rather do the work I believe in."

How come no link-up stories between Rajiv and his Left Right Left co-star Shweta Salve ? "Ha! Good question. I guess people are too busy talking about me and Amna Sharif to link me with anyone…My friendship with Amna remains consistent, not a casualty of all the gossip and speculation."

He gets confessional. "I keep reading these stories about my co-stars like Ghazal Rai and Deep Rana thinking highly of me. Frankly, I'm embarrassed by such incidents…like there was this story of an air-hostess taking my autograph mid-air. Yes, I do take my success, for whatever it's worth, very seriously. But it doesn't make me cautious about taking new steps in my life and career."