Sangram Singh, who plays the baddie, Ashok, in the show Yeh Hai Mohabatein, says that girls are afraid of him in real life. “Everybody is terrified of me, especially women and girls. They don’t like my character in Yeh Hai Mohabatein… Often girls have come up to me and asked, ‘how can you be so bad with Shagun (his ex-girlfriend in the soap)?’ They feel Sangram is a crook in real life too,” says Sangram.
But there is hope for Ashok as the actor admits that eventually he and his on-screen wife Mihika will develop a soft-corner for each other. Till that happens the audience may continue to remain wary of him, though his family is thrilled with his success.
“I am happy that my family extended their support after I got this meaningful role. But initially, after watching my character, my mother had said, ‘Kya kutte jaisa role kar raha hai, kuch achcha role karna tha!’ But now as she understands that it’s written for me to portray what we see in the real world. So she is happy that I am finally doing something in life.”
Talking about how he got into soaps, Sangram says, “My father owns a cycle spare parts business in Jalandhar and I helped him in the business for a few months. Later, I bagged two Punjabi films and, thereafter came to Mumbai to try my luck in TV as well as in films.” “My family members are now happy that I am doing well. Like any other Indian family, they were quite worried about my future but now they finally feel that I have got what I wanted and they are hoping for a good future ahead for me.”
Sangram adds, “I doubt my character will reform. But my equation with the ladies on the sets is superb. They find me a thorough gentleman. In fact they call me, ‘giant Gentleman’. And no, I am not romantically inclined towards any female on the sets from the show. Most of them are married and those who are not have boyfriends.
His look in the show is similar to that of Ronit Roy’s character of Mr Bajaj in Kasauti… Sangram agrees, “Yes, in the beginning that was the reference I was asked to take. But over the days it became slightly difficult for me to manage that hairstyle, I had to dye it and then go home and wash it. Later on, it went on to be semi-black, but I requested Ekta if I could have natural hair. She was kind enough to permit me and, therefore, now I have black hair.”
Talking more about his experiences with people coming up to him in the streets, he says, “Once, while I was shopping with my mom in a mall, a lady, who might have been in her sixties, came up to me and said, ‘what are you doing? You should respect ladies… this is not the way you behave with them.’ I was taken aback at first, but then I realised that she was talking about my character. I told her to cool down as it was only a reel character.”
Another drawback of playing a villain is that Sangram finds it hard to get a date. “Playing such a nasty character on reel, every girl feels that I am not the one for them. Alas,” he sighs, but adds, “But that’s fine with me as I have no time. I am living in Mumbai with my mom and she prepares lovely food for me. I always prefer eating maa ke haath ka bana khana and that’s the secret of my size. But I also go to the gym at least five days a week, if not all seven days.”
