| Waqar Sheik is back in Solah Singaar after a long break. He says it's a role any actor would die for — very realistic and the director has handled the subject with a fresh approach Excerpts from an interview Q Why did you take a nearly two-year-long break from TV?
Till 2004 I was shooting 30 days a month and had one serial each on all leading channels. In 11 years of my career I had done nearly 30 serials and a variety of roles. After a point, monotony set in and I needed a break. Gradually I reduced my work and when one show after the other wound up I didn't take up new serials. I desperately needed a break. Q What did you do during the break?
I did theatre, a few commercials and two off-beat films, Koi Gwala Nahi and Manzar. Besides I spent a lot of time with my wife and daughter. I also worked on my physique, knocked off some weight and got a new hairstyle for my comeback on TV. Q Why did you choose Solah Singaar as your comeback show?
Among the offers I got Solah Singaar appealed to me the most. It's the kind of serial no one can say no to. The way it's been written, the director's approach and execution make it a far more realistic show than what's there on air today. Q What's your role like?
Shontanu is the youngest son of the family. The character was talked about in the show at the time of the launch and introduced two weeks later when he comes from London to immerse his wife's ashes in the Ganga at Varanasi where he meets Meera and sees Alaknanda in her. Shontanu and Alaknanda were in love but circumstances forced her to marry my middle brother Kumar Bhardwaj. After Kumar's death it is Meera's wish to see her mother happy in marital bliss and she wants Shontanu chachu to marry Alaknanda though it goes against the tradition of the conservative family and society of Varanasi. Q So old lovers will be united finally. When will Alaknanda and Shontanu get married?
Thanks to Meera who wants to see her mother married again, the family has finally agreed for the marriage. But there are forces within the family that do not want the marriage to happen. Since it's a family drama set against the backdrop of a conservative society where widow remarriage is a contentious issue, family politics also plays a crucial role in it. Alaknanda and Shontanu will get married ultimately, but new problems and issues will confront them. Q Is it true that you and Akangsha Rawat (Meera) share an excellent on and off screen chemistry?
No, no. It's not true at all. Today the media has nothing else to write except speculative romances, relationships and chemistry between two co-actors. As the story goes Meera relates a lot to Shontanu. He is her favourite chachu. Shontanu, on the other hand, has a lot of affection for Meera. We have a lot of common scenes. But being a newcomer, Akangsha sometimes smiles or breaks into laughter when I look at her affectionately while shooting a scene and the director has no option but to shoot the scene again. This has given rise to rumours that our chemistry is giving problems to the director. I am a married man. There are already two women in my life, my wife and daughter. I don't want another woman. http://www.deccan.com/TV%20Guide/TV%20GuideDescription.asp#B ack%20after%202-year%20break | 
