Posted:
It has been only two months since
Gunjan Utreja started his stint in
'Madhubala... Ek Ishq Ek Junoon' as
Abhay Kapoor, and now we've learnt
that he has decided to quit the show.
He wasn't satisfied with the way his
character had come to a standstill.
We spoke to him, and he confirmed
the news, saying that the character
didn't shape up as promised. "The
talks were on since April 1. On May 3,
I am travelling to America. So, May 2
is going to be my last day of
shooting." Excerpts from the chat:
My character is too negative
My character has turned too
negative. It has become negative to
the extent that it has become
stagnant. There's nothing for me to
do in the show. As a man, it's not
power to abuse a six-year-old child
(Vivian Dsena's character Raju has
the mental age of six) and a woman,
and that too on a daily basis. Ek
mahine se yehi kar raha hoon.
There's no growth. Ever since we had
discussions about Vivian's entry, I
was discussing things like, 'How is
my character going to shape up?'
Apparently, the kind of talks we had
ki aise hoga, waise hoga never
materialised. There's no power to
this character. As a character, what
has Abhay Kapoor been doing in the
last 20 days? There has to be a
certain journey of a character. I
mean, take Shah Rukh Khan's
character in 'Darr'. He was a
passionate lover who would do
anything to get her. His character
had a journey. The only journey that
I am going to have is I am going to
torture her till the point somebody
kills me. That's what is gonna
happen. There's no heroism in the
fight. When two men stand in front
of each other, that's heroism. It has
become too illogical. All of a sudden,
it became too negative.
ALSO READ: Vivian DSena on why
he has been bumped off in
Madhubala
My role was similar to Amitabh
Bachchan's character in Deewaar
I have always believed ki story lead
hoti hai. No actor can get you ratings,
no character can get you ratings. Of
course, I was the central character.
Even after Vivian's return, I have
been the main lead because the
story has been about Abhay's
revenge. I look at it from that
perspective. In Darr, who is the main
lead? Is it Shah Rukh Khan or Sunny
Deol? In Kal Ho Naa Ho, it's Saif's
character that gets the girl and Shah
Rukh's character dies in the film. But
you don't know who the main lead
is. In Deewaar, there were two
characters in the main lead. The
story of Deewaar was so kick**s that
you still remember them. In that
movie, Amitabh Bachchan's character
thought that meri maa ke saath bura
hua hai and I have to take revenge.
Similarly, Abhay wanted to avenge
the death of his father, who he felt
was given a raw deal. Having said
this, I don't feel cheated in any which
way.
Vivian's entry hasn't worked The
show wasn't getting ratings, that's
why they took a leap. They got a new
cast on the show after the leap and it
would have taken some time to get
the ratings back. But the makers
decided that three weeks was
enough time and they got Vivian
back. I started shooting on February
13 and Vivian shot his entry promo
on March 14. That means they had
decided around March 7 that he
would be brought back. But in those
three weeks (when Gunjan was the
lead), the ratings had gone up. In
three weeks, the kind of affection my
character got was amazing. But the
makers thought that getting Vivian
was a great idea, and I also thought
so. He was part of the show for two
years. They could have got anyone
but getting Vivian was a better idea.
But the idea of bringing him back as
a child didn't work. The ratings have
dipped from 1.8 to 1.3. Definitely, it
hasn't worked. But in this whole
process, Abhay's character has gone
for a toss. I was in the show because
of Abhay. I have shown my versatility
as an actor in the last few days. Even
my critics have been saying 'Wow'. As
an actor, I have achieved everything.
I didn't quit fearing the rumours
about the show going off air
The talks about Madhubala going off
air have been there since the time I
joined. Woh aisa hota hai ki ratings
nahi aa rahi, toh the show is going
off air. That is something which is not
in my hands. Neither have I been
affected. I am least interested in
whether the show will go on for two
months or two years. My job is to be
on the sets and give as much as I can.
Actors nahi sochte aisa ki show off-air
ja raha hai ya nahi. Agar aisa hota, toh
I would have thought ki chalo do
hafte aur ruk jaata hoon.
Vivian and I had a laugh
When I told Vivian about my decision
to quit, he said, 'Agar main teri jagah
hota toh main show hi chhod deta
jab Raju ke character ko laaye thay.' I
told him that I had no reason to
leave the show then because I was
confident of my character.
No insecurity about Vivian
When you get Yuvraj in the team,
does Dhoni become insecure and
think that he is going to make more
runs than me? My scene is mine, his
scene is his. We are not saying the
same lines. We are two different
actors, two different people. At the
end of the day, you have to do a
scene with another actor. There is no
question of insecurity.
I was born to entertain
I am open to everything. I have
considered myself an entertainer.
Even today, when people see me
doing the role of a cold-blooded
revenge-taking son, it's
entertainment for them. When I was
proposing to Madhu, singing songs
for her, that was also entertainment.
I don't want to play an out-and-out
negative character because that's
not me. If you have a character with
grey shades, that is interesting, but
not a completely negative guy.
People wanted to see more of
Abhay and Madhu's love story
People wanted to see the romantic
story of Madhubala and Abhay
Kapoor. I get mails saying that
people want to see Abhay and
Madhu together.
I'll work with these people again
Abhinav (the show's producer) asked
me, 'Kyun ja raha hai?' I told him,
'Paaji, mann nahi karega, toh mazaa
bhi nahi aayega'. He's like an elder
brother to me. It was a business
decision to get Vivian back and it
didn't work. If I get an opportunity, I
will work with this team again.
Gunjan Utreja started his stint in
'Madhubala... Ek Ishq Ek Junoon' as
Abhay Kapoor, and now we've learnt
that he has decided to quit the show.
He wasn't satisfied with the way his
character had come to a standstill.
We spoke to him, and he confirmed
the news, saying that the character
didn't shape up as promised. "The
talks were on since April 1. On May 3,
I am travelling to America. So, May 2
is going to be my last day of
shooting." Excerpts from the chat:
My character is too negative
My character has turned too
negative. It has become negative to
the extent that it has become
stagnant. There's nothing for me to
do in the show. As a man, it's not
power to abuse a six-year-old child
(Vivian Dsena's character Raju has
the mental age of six) and a woman,
and that too on a daily basis. Ek
mahine se yehi kar raha hoon.
There's no growth. Ever since we had
discussions about Vivian's entry, I
was discussing things like, 'How is
my character going to shape up?'
Apparently, the kind of talks we had
ki aise hoga, waise hoga never
materialised. There's no power to
this character. As a character, what
has Abhay Kapoor been doing in the
last 20 days? There has to be a
certain journey of a character. I
mean, take Shah Rukh Khan's
character in 'Darr'. He was a
passionate lover who would do
anything to get her. His character
had a journey. The only journey that
I am going to have is I am going to
torture her till the point somebody
kills me. That's what is gonna
happen. There's no heroism in the
fight. When two men stand in front
of each other, that's heroism. It has
become too illogical. All of a sudden,
it became too negative.
ALSO READ: Vivian DSena on why
he has been bumped off in
Madhubala
My role was similar to Amitabh
Bachchan's character in Deewaar
I have always believed ki story lead
hoti hai. No actor can get you ratings,
no character can get you ratings. Of
course, I was the central character.
Even after Vivian's return, I have
been the main lead because the
story has been about Abhay's
revenge. I look at it from that
perspective. In Darr, who is the main
lead? Is it Shah Rukh Khan or Sunny
Deol? In Kal Ho Naa Ho, it's Saif's
character that gets the girl and Shah
Rukh's character dies in the film. But
you don't know who the main lead
is. In Deewaar, there were two
characters in the main lead. The
story of Deewaar was so kick**s that
you still remember them. In that
movie, Amitabh Bachchan's character
thought that meri maa ke saath bura
hua hai and I have to take revenge.
Similarly, Abhay wanted to avenge
the death of his father, who he felt
was given a raw deal. Having said
this, I don't feel cheated in any which
way.
Vivian's entry hasn't worked The
show wasn't getting ratings, that's
why they took a leap. They got a new
cast on the show after the leap and it
would have taken some time to get
the ratings back. But the makers
decided that three weeks was
enough time and they got Vivian
back. I started shooting on February
13 and Vivian shot his entry promo
on March 14. That means they had
decided around March 7 that he
would be brought back. But in those
three weeks (when Gunjan was the
lead), the ratings had gone up. In
three weeks, the kind of affection my
character got was amazing. But the
makers thought that getting Vivian
was a great idea, and I also thought
so. He was part of the show for two
years. They could have got anyone
but getting Vivian was a better idea.
But the idea of bringing him back as
a child didn't work. The ratings have
dipped from 1.8 to 1.3. Definitely, it
hasn't worked. But in this whole
process, Abhay's character has gone
for a toss. I was in the show because
of Abhay. I have shown my versatility
as an actor in the last few days. Even
my critics have been saying 'Wow'. As
an actor, I have achieved everything.
I didn't quit fearing the rumours
about the show going off air
The talks about Madhubala going off
air have been there since the time I
joined. Woh aisa hota hai ki ratings
nahi aa rahi, toh the show is going
off air. That is something which is not
in my hands. Neither have I been
affected. I am least interested in
whether the show will go on for two
months or two years. My job is to be
on the sets and give as much as I can.
Actors nahi sochte aisa ki show off-air
ja raha hai ya nahi. Agar aisa hota, toh
I would have thought ki chalo do
hafte aur ruk jaata hoon.
Vivian and I had a laugh
When I told Vivian about my decision
to quit, he said, 'Agar main teri jagah
hota toh main show hi chhod deta
jab Raju ke character ko laaye thay.' I
told him that I had no reason to
leave the show then because I was
confident of my character.
No insecurity about Vivian
When you get Yuvraj in the team,
does Dhoni become insecure and
think that he is going to make more
runs than me? My scene is mine, his
scene is his. We are not saying the
same lines. We are two different
actors, two different people. At the
end of the day, you have to do a
scene with another actor. There is no
question of insecurity.
I was born to entertain
I am open to everything. I have
considered myself an entertainer.
Even today, when people see me
doing the role of a cold-blooded
revenge-taking son, it's
entertainment for them. When I was
proposing to Madhu, singing songs
for her, that was also entertainment.
I don't want to play an out-and-out
negative character because that's
not me. If you have a character with
grey shades, that is interesting, but
not a completely negative guy.
People wanted to see more of
Abhay and Madhu's love story
People wanted to see the romantic
story of Madhubala and Abhay
Kapoor. I get mails saying that
people want to see Abhay and
Madhu together.
I'll work with these people again
Abhinav (the show's producer) asked
me, 'Kyun ja raha hai?' I told him,
'Paaji, mann nahi karega, toh mazaa
bhi nahi aayega'. He's like an elder
brother to me. It was a business
decision to get Vivian back and it
didn't work. If I get an opportunity, I
will work with this team again.
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