Meet the high brow stars of television

Beta, what do you want to be when you grow up? An actor.

Yes that's a highly expected answer from adolescents. And some are so fired to pursue this ambition that in spite of accumulating many degrees, they opt for an acting career.

Prashant Golecha meets up with such stars from our television industry who are highly qualified and come from educated backgrounds but still are happy being an actor!

Pawan Shankar

I am MBA in finance from Ghaziabad and I have worked with Essar. One of my colleagues was a newsreader on Zee. My friend Vishal was inclined towards career in films. He left MBA and joined the film industry. That was the first exposure. That made me think about acting. I used to come to Bombay for work and people started suggesting that as I look good and should consider acting. Thus I gave up my job and came down to Bombay to pursuer a career in this industry, and I'm happy I did so. Being a celebrity helps. Things soon change in favour of you and your family. Whatever you say or do carries more weightage and people look up to you as well. I don't need to look back at my corporate career

Anuj Saxena

I am a doctor turned businessman (Elder Pharma) and actor turned producer (Maverick Productions) turned restaurateur (Blue Waters). Frankly speaking I never wanted to be an actor. I completed my MBBS and joined the family business as my company was growing and I was needed. But I did utilize my MBBS knowledge in my business and sometimes on the sets! Producer Viveck Wasvani chased me for six months to do a show called Aasman Se Aagey based on novel called Fountainhead and Amrita Singh was paired opposite me. I even took up Hindi classes. Later offers followed I kept doing them but also managed my business at the same time. But it was with Kkusum that I realized that I want to develop acting into a serious career. I am an ambitious individual and by the grace of God I can multifunction simultaneously. I enjoy the creativity involved in the acting and feel that I have a long way to go. Whatever happens, happens for the best.

Gourav Chanana

I would have been a CA by now if I wouldn't have dropped out of my final year of exams. I was very good in academics, particularly Accounts and Maths. During my college years theatre had always been my hobby. And gradually I started liking it and acting became a joy. Offers for modeling started pouring in and similarly for acting. I have no regrets that I'm not a post graduate. This field is what I enjoy

Amit Sareen

I always wanted to be an actor. My family values education the most and thus it was a compulsion no matter what. So I did engineering from Manipal. I believe knowledge never goes waste. It adds value to your portfolio and reflects in the personality. I am happy that I am into acting as I wanted to be an actor. But I am also glad that I did engineering instead of just a normal graduation.