IF LIFE WAS SO EASY THEN WE WOULD NOT LIVE ON EARTH, SAYS VIVIAN

His decorous composure and unvarnished truth about the alarming societal conflicts certainly defines him as a person of acute perspicuity. Vivian Dsena of Colors' popular Shakti - Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki' speaks withDhrithi Sudhakar Gulvadi about his show, his outlook towards relationship and more...

Buzz is that you and Vahbbiz are heading for a split.

All I would like to say about this arena is that no comments' because it's personal and we rather keep it personal.

What derives the essence of a relationship - true love or the number of experience devoted to maintaining a relationship?

It's the compatibility factor. It's the mutual understanding between both the people. I think that is the key. I cannot comment on anybody's life because I am not living their life and I don't allow anybody to comment on mine because nobody is living my life. I have my own journey and somebody else has their own journey. I think such is life. You go through ups and downs. If life was so easy then we would not live on earth; we would be on the moon.

The issue of transgender is a matter of debate in India, how difficult was it to convey it on screen? What is the motive behind producing such a content on Indian television - has it to do with changing the mindsets of the masses or to simply act different alike other daily soaps?

The idea was to not to get into the monotony of a daily soap which usually happens in every show. This was something that nobody ever touched on Indian television. This is a very bold subject; forget portraying it on screen, to imagine it in itself is a very bold subject. Our society does not accept these norms which we are trying to portray on screen. So, when this subject came to me I was pretty excited that this is something new and something that I've never heard of. This is my request to all the makers, whoever approach me for the show that don't repeat the same kind of subject which I've done previously or which everybody is doing. I want to do something different, something more original and something which has not been seen.

It's not about acting different. The concept that we've come up with is our conviction, Rashmi Sharma's conviction and Colors conviction so it's totally their call as to how they want to execute it, because it's their subject. This is something which I really cannot comment on. I only work with the intention of doing a good job; nothing more and nothing less. So, it's the makers call ultimately as to what is their intention. My intention is to entertain people and so will it be.

As the show envelops the aversion of the Indian society towards transgender, had there been a protest towards the concept of the show owing to its sensitivity? How did the real transgender people act in response to the show?

l No, I don't think so. The clan and specially the gender which we are talking about, in fact, are loving it because there is somebody who's come up in the society and taking a stand for them. Usually in such situations nobody takes a stand for this because we have a societal pressure on us. I have not come across any of them. So far what I've heard from the technicians and the people on my set is that they like the show. They really liked the concept and they were happy with the fact that somebody is there who's talking about the issue and standing for the issue.

Playing the role of a husband to a transgender, what sort of mental preparation did you undergo for the character?

l I wanted to keep it as real as possible in terms of the reaction of Harman (character name) and in terms of his body language. I didn't want to make him anything with the intention of being a hero on TV. There is a difference. There are 100 heroes on TV, but a few look real because they really put in that real amount of efforts and the real amount of performance. The real kind of performance is missing in today's times. I think this is what people like about Harman (character name) because I don't perform in a format. I try to do something different in every show. That's probably why my viewers and fans like my work.

Many daily soaps aim to weave content different from the rest; however end up in the tangled web of mainstream daily soaps. Would Shakti also fall on the trails of conventional beliefs of an Indian television show?

l It can't because the subject is different. You may never know what happens in future because there are shows which fizzle out with time; probably Shakti might just get even more interesting with time. I think that is what has happened in the past few months ever since it's been on air. The show has really grown on people. People whom I would never expect to watch TV walked up to me and said that it's a good concept and that they've watched our show. I was pretty shocked by people's reactions because I didn't expect them to watch the show, as I know for the fact that they don't watch TV, but still they've watched the show and they are talking about it. I think that's a good part about the show that it's working and growing onto people. I actually believe in the fact that slow and steady wins the race. It is something that goes up very fast and comes down every fast. So, we rather take it slowly and smoothly.