SHAGUN PANDEY, who plays Uday Sahani in SET’s Kyun Utthe Dil Chod Aaye, tells MUSBA HASHMI that he makes his characters cry to maintain the emotion quotient and that he wants to see scripts that give equal importance to all the characters
What is your role in Kyun Utthe Dil Chod Aaye?
I play Uday Sahani, a Punjabi who stays with his family in Lahore. He is a passionate hockey player and is a emotional person. He has grown up without his mother and his father has been very rude to him. But he still manages to keep everyone happy. He is sensitive and intelligent, but probably less confident than Vashma, his childhood friend and neighbour, who is the only one to understand him.
How hard was it to get into the skin of the character?
Whenever you play a new character it is definitely hard to get into the skin of the character. You have have to get into character’s boundary. Uday is someone who doesn’t express much and is emotionally vulnerable. One has to understand all this and then cultivate a character. I have taken a lot of workshops and sittings with the director and the writers. It took me a lot of efforts to understand his personality and get hold on the way he converses with everyone. I had to learn to play hockey as well.
You are also shooting for a music video. How are you juggling between both?
Yes, I was shooting a music video for T-Series. It is always good to work. I was shooting back to back without sleeping for six days. We travelled to Srinagar and shot there in -18°Celsius. It is difficult, but this is what I wanted to do in my life. So I should not complain and rather enjoy what I am doing.
What kind of roles attract you?
I like to play characters which have a say and give you scope to perform. In my last show Shubh Arambh, I played a character who was stylish and had an attitude, but now I am playing a completely opposite character. But having said that I make sure that my characters cry. It is not only the females who cry, males can too and we should not be judging emotions on the basis of gender. So the characters which are expressive and have emotions interest me.
A role that comes close to your heart.
All the characters that I have played are close to my heart. I put in a lot of hard work and efforts in whatever role I play. I spend so much time with every character, hence they all are close to my heart. But to name one it will be Atharv Bapat in Tujhse Hai Raabta. There are some roles that earn you recognition and for me it is Atharv. But having said that all the characters that I have played are my babies and I love them all equally.
You once told me that you would want to see scripts that give enough exposure to all the characters. Has anything changed now?
Yes, I like scripts where all the characters are given equal importance. I doubt when only two actors — a male and female protagonist — pulling the show and the story keeps on revolving around them. People should understand the actors who play antagonists are accomplished actors because they convince people that they are bad. I don’t think that the Indian audience has still understood that negative characters are just actors playing their part. But with that being said, if the actors receive hate it means that they are doing justice to their role.