Mohit Malik, who essays the role of Abhimanyu Singh Yadav in Star Plus' Pratigya (produced by Spellbound Productions and Walkwater Productions) feels that he has finally managed to break the shackles of playing urban characters with his present role.
Talking about it, Mohit says, "I have always got roles that required me to have a civilized look. In my friends' circle too, I was always typecast as an actor who can do a swell job with urban roles. However, with this character of Abhimanyu in Pratigya I have broken away from the urban-ness. And it was a challenge for me to do well as Abhimanyu; the lingo in which the man speaks was new to me. I had few sleepless nights when I got the role, and the fact that I had to start shoot immediately did not give me time to tutor myself to speaking the Allahabadi lingo effectively".
So how did he manage to get a hold of the lingo? "Well, as I said I had to start shoot overnight and we had no time to arrange for a tutor to teach me the language. I used to take home the scripts of characters in the Sajjan Singh family and go through them all night. I used to make notes and understand the difference in the pronunciation of certain words. Also, I saw to it that I converse in the same Allahabadi lingo with my wife Aditi (Shirwaiker) and also with my friends and family. And today all my efforts have paid off as the response to the character has been brilliant. The channel and production house have given me good feedbacks and that makes me happy."
Mohit adds that his character has provided him with great scope as "Abhimanyu talks in normal Hindi with Pratigya (Pooja Gor) while it is pure Allahabadi lingo with Sajjan Singh's family and with his mother."
He goes on, "At the end of it, I want to convey that being versatile is important and I am glad that I got an opportunity of playing a different kind of character with Pratigya."
Great going, Mohit!
