Abhinav Shukla Interview: Modelling was always a stepping stone to becoming an actor!

Model-turned-actor Abhinav Shukla is not only good looking but also very sweet and extremely down to earth. Last seen in the Star Plus soap, Diya Aur Baati Hum, the actor is eagerly awaiting the release of his upcoming film, Aksar 2, which sees him in a romantic avatar, opposite the supremely gorgeous Zareen Khan. Here are some of the things Abhinav and I talked about his upcoming film, how he got into the field of entertainment and much more.

Q. Brief us about your character in Aksar 2?

A. I play the romantic lead of the film. You must have seen the trailer where I am romancing Zareen (Khan). I play a rich guy Ricky, who is addicted to a lot of things in life. Then suddenly things go wrong. Why, I am not going to tell you (laughs). You will have to watch the film to know more.

Then there comes a point when Ricky enters into a relationship. The relationship is tested and that happens because of certain people. It’s a character-defining moment for all the characters in the movie. It happens in every film that after a point every character has to choose something over the other which defines their character. The same character-defining moment comes for me as well and I choose love over everything else. So, that is what my character in Aksar 2 is.

Q. What attracted you towards your character in the film?

A. Basically, more than my character what attracted me towards the film was the legacy of Aksar. Aksar was a big hit when it released in 2006. Secondly, Anant (Mahadevan) is known for his great work. For me, it is always about the team and, yes, my character also. But in this particular film, more than the character, it was the legacy of the franchise and the director.

When I asked Anant sir to define my character in one word – this is something which I ask every director – he said, ‘Impulsive’. I said, ‘Fine, let’s do it. Even I am very impulsive in my life, so it was easy for me to play Ricky.

Q. What are the things which you find similar to you and your character?

A. Let me first tell you about things which are dissimilar to us. Ricky is very rich, I am not. Talking about the similarities, Ricky believes in love. He believes in the chemistry of a relationship, which I also do. Ricky is a nice, young guy who is immaculately dressed up, which I also try to do.

Q. You are romancing Zareen Khan in Aksar 2 and, if the trailer of the film is anything to go by, both of you have done some extremely passionate, intimate scenes. How difficult was it to shoot those scenes?

A. There are few things which I am very confident about that we take those scenes as acting. They are part of our job. I don’t feel shy doing such scenes because we do them as they are written in the script. So, yeah, I am not at all shy in that way.

Q. Had you seen Aksar before signing Aksar 2?

A. I had seen Aksar in bits and pieces. I haven’t seen it in a go. When Anant sir offered me the film, I went back and saw certain scenes. Just it.

Q. Before becoming an actor, you were a model. You participated in Gladrags Mr. India Contest and Grasim Mr. India before venturing into movies. So, did you always want to become an actor and your modelling career was just a stepping stone to achieve the coveted goal or acting just happened?

A. I always had a secret ambition of being an actor. Actually, when I was a kid, I used to watch a lot of Bollywood films with my brother. A lot of things shown in films were funny, which now we know is called cinematic liberty. But at that time, we used to find them very funny, so my brother and I used to laugh at them. That was the time when a secret desire was born to become an actor. I would feel that if I were an actor, I would have never done like this. I started imagining myself in front of the camera but never told anyone that I wanted to be an actor as I thought people might laugh at me.

I remember that almost every year I used to do a play for the annual function of my school. Suddenly, I became the favourite actor of all the teachers. Every department wanted me to feature in their play. So, that was the time I thought I should explore this world. Soon, Gladrags happened. I won Mr. Best Potential and then several other things followed.

But I always knew that I wanted to act or direct. Modelling was kind of boring for me. But then that is how you enter this business. Somebody should see you somewhere. People have to know about you. So, yes, modelling was always a stepping stone to becoming an actor.