After a hiatus of two years, actor Mishal Raheja, whose claim to fame as Dutta Bhau of laagi Tujhse lagan, is back as King Singh, a parallel lead in Kumkum Bhagya. He tells Sangeeta Yadav about how he is getting into the skin of the character

• How does it feel to be a part of such a popular showIJ

It feels great to work on a show which is a hit. It is delightful to share the screen space with actors like Shabbir Ahluwalia and Sriti Jha. They are fabulous, kind, warm and welcoming. King Singh is the most challenging role I have ever done so far. He is very loud, animated and carefree. I have not seen a character like his before on TV.

• What about the preparationIJ

I had only seven days to prepare for it. I watched all the rockstar roles performed by other actors. I didn’t want a repeat of the character. After this, I started writing the back-story for King Singh that helped me get into the shoes of the character. I wrote a five-page story on his growing up days and incidents that made him what he is. For me, the preparation is still going on. I’m trying to understand the character as the show progresses. I have done only 50 per cent of the work and rest is yet to happen.

• What kind of an actor are youIJ

I am still trying to figure out what kind of roles I fit into. Though I have been acting since 2006, I still feel I am very new at it. This is my fourth show as a lead actor in a daily soap. I have to do many more roles to test my versatility and find out where I stand.

• Which character came close to your heartIJ

Dutta  Bhau from laagi Tujhse lagan and Viplav from Ishq Ka Rang Safed. I thoroughly enjoyed playing these characters. Dutta was like Robinhood, kind-hearted yet powerful in terms of money and authority. It was one of those roles which everybody would love to play. Playing this role gave me immense satisfaction.

Essaying Viplav was great because the show was a light-hearted comedy, something which I thought I would not be able to do it. When I got appreciation from my viewers for that character, it felt nice. I had become fond of Viplav.

• Which was the most challenging role for youIJ

Dutta Bhau was a very intense and angry character and I realised that I was getting angry off screen also. That is why I left the show when it was at its peak. For me, playing a character which is not like me is challenging. You have to put in a lot of efforts to bring certain nuances. Doing such a role is a gamechanger and one gets to learn as well.

• You are making a comeback after two years. What kept you busyIJ

I was planning to do webseries. There is a lot happening on this platform but couldn’t do the series because I was invited by music producers in the US to cut a song for them titled Power of love. I took my time in honing my singing skills.  I totally cut myself off from the outside world for five months to train for eight hours a day.

• Does singing comes naturally to youIJ

It comes naturally. My whole family loves to Indian classical music. From time to time, I listen to what my mother and sister would train in and I kept singing and learning. I wish to come up with many Hindi songs too and have a mini album in the near future.

• How are you balancing your life with this daily soapIJ

There is no balance. I am only shooting and everything else has to take a backseat. I have no time to do anything else except gyming, shooting from 9 am to 9 pm, eat and sleep. Thankfully, sets have become very comfortable and the production team makes sure that we are comfortable. I have not seen any production house that treats actors the way Balaji Productions does.

• You also did one Bollywood movie...

Yes, it was Budget Trip but unfortunately, it never got released due to an internal conflict between the producer and director. It is disheartening when something like this happens. We shot it in a beautiful location in Himachal, put in almost eight months to a year in this film and had beautiful music by Mika Singh and Sonu Nigam. Sadly, never to be released.