"I Don't Wish To Make My Relationship Public"
Vishal Karwal - the brave and good-looking guy from MTV Roadies 4, who emerged a true star from season one of Splitsvilla, is busy weaving his very own success story on the small screen. After having made an exit from Bhagyavidhaata due to his refusal to play an older character, the dashing actor soon found himself being signed on for another coveted offer, Rishton Se Badi Pratha. Only a while into the show, he seems to have become controversy's favourite child, all thanks to the strange rumours that made their way into the media. Showtime pins down the dimpled Vishal to clear the air, get candid and also give a sneak peek into his love life like never before.
Flying high with Rishton Se Badi Pratha, Vishal seems to be beaming with contentment. "I'm glad that the same channel that gave me Bhagyavidhaata roped me to play Abhay in Rishton... Playing this character is a different feeling altogether. When I heard the narration, I could easily picture myself as Abhay. So I have to admit that I related to it instantly. In Bhagyavidhaata, my character belonged to Bihar. It was a little difficult for me to put on that accent. But with this show, it's more like playing a college-going guy," he confesses.
Since he mentions Bhagyavidhaata, I waste no time in asking him why he refused to grey, something which was in the news just a while ago. "I didn't want to play a 40-year-old. I myself wasn't quite convinced about the role. How do you think I would convince my audience?" He adds, "I didn't want to be typecast in anyway. I wish to do at least a couple of more shows where I get to play young lead roles that suit my age."
Controversy hit him once again when sources claimed that he and his then Rishton... co-star Shalini Chandran were having an affair. Ask him about that and he shoots, "There's no truth to that. People on the sets are narrow-minded. They see a guy and a girl sitting in a room watching television for hours together and start assuming that there's something brewing between them. Shalini has been in a relationship with somebody for the last seven years. How can we be together?" It is said that after such stories surfaced, he began maintaining a distance from her. "I am in a relationship too. And I don't want people to link me up with my co-stars. It had started affecting my relationship. So I decided to be more careful. Also, by nature I'm an over-friendly person. My friendly gestures are many a times mistaken for flirty behaviour. I realised that I should tone that down. Slowly, when I started keeping a distance, people said I broke up with her! It's obvious that if I'm in a relationship, my girlfriend is not going to like such stories," he retorts.
Rumours also suggested that he was instrumental in her being ousted from the show. Sources claimed that her unprofessional behaviour was taking a toll too. Vishal lashes out, "People are really stupid to write something of this sort. Nobody has the power to get anyone replaced. Even if I were that powerful, I would never do anything like this to anyone's career." Was she creating issues at work? "There was never any problem on the sets. She was always good but I think the channel had some problems. I didn't witness any kind of unprofessional behaviour. I would just do my part and go back to my make-up room," he justifies.
Now that he's put all the rumours to rest, I move on and ask him about his mystery woman. Around Valentine's Day, he is said to have gifted his girlfriend a nice perfume and a watch. The actor can't stop blushing as he talks about her, "I did gift her all of that. She's not from the industry and I don't wish to make my relationship public as yet. I won't hide that I am going steady with someone but I don't want to disclose her name." As I probe further he reasons, "You never know what's going to be in store for us in the future. For a girl, her dignity is very important. I don't want to play around with that. Tomorrow if something goes wrong, I don't want people to point out and say that she was in a relationship with this guy. People in showbiz get highlighted more often than others because of their relationships. I don't want to drag her in all this. But I can tell you this much that I'm very happy and we've been together for more than five months."
While he may be a complete gentleman to his current flame, he still hasn't been able to do away with the Casanova tag attached to him. "I don't mind that. I've told my girlfriend that my previous relationship lasted for five long years. In the last two-and-a-half years that I've been in Mumbai, I haven't been in a serious relationship." Now that he seems to have found his lady love, does that mean his relationship with Shraddha Haribhai, with whom he won Splitsvilla was just another casual relationship? "With Shraddha, it wasn't a relationship. We were together in the show and post that our feelings faded away. So you can't really call it a relationship. It was just a reality show after which things didn't work out between us," he explains. Does that mean there were no genuine feelings at all? "No, I really liked her at that point of time. But after that, we fell apart. I won't call it love. You can call it infatuation. Obviously when you're in a reality show, there are cameras around and your behaviour is different. Once you get to the real world that's when you start seeing changes," he reveals.
Ask him if things went sour and he explains, "Nothing went wrong as such. She's a very sweet girl. In fact, I'm still quite close to her. She's on my BBM (blackberry messenger) and we're very much in touch. Just because our relationship didn't work out, doesn't mean it has to harm our friendship too," he says and continues, "She's also very cool about me being with somebody else. She keeps giving me ideas as to what all I should do for my girlfriend."
As far as his future goals are concerned, I ask him what's in store for the future and he says, "At the moment, I'm doing a Punjabi film and am really excited about it. I hope it turns out to be a great watch." Considering his stint in showbiz started with reality shows, can we hope to see him in any of the popular ones today? "I would love to do something like a Fear Factor as I think I have the capabilities for it. As for a Bigg Boss, I feel there's too much negativity there. So as of now it's not really on my wish list. I'm not stooping down to that level just to get popular. To me, my self-respect is more important than fame and money," he ends on a sincere note.
Well, looks like this guy is ready to take on any challenge but with his head held high. After all, true talent eventually knits a big success story. Let's hope it comes true in Vishal Karwal's case.
*Courtesy: Showtime
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
