‘Baddie’ with a heart of gold

Mumbai: Kolkata boy Vishal Vashishtha may play the baddie-turned-romantic hero in Veera, but his popularity among fans has proven to be phenomenal. The actor admits that he was apprehensive of playing the negative lead in the show at first and had to be coaxed into it. He tells us, “I was doing a show on Channel V for 6-7 months, and when that ended I auditioned for both Ranvijay and Baldev’s characters in Veera.

After a couple of days I read in the newspapers that I was playing Baldev — which is how I got to know that I was chosen! Yes, I was skeptical of taking on a role with grey shades, but the producers and writer convinced me.”

So how did the journey from Kolkata to Mumbai happen? “I was studying Commerce and was planning to become a chartered accountant. But later realised it was not for me. I was always interested in dance and drama. I decided to start auditioning for roles,” Vishal recounts.

The actor admits that he needed to put in quite a lot of work for his current role. “Since I am not Punjabi, I had to work on the language and accent. Recently, someone made a poster of the younger Baldev and me, and the expressions were identical! That’s when I felt that I was doing justice to my character,” says Vishal, with a smile.

Off screen, the actor admits it’s been tough, adjusting to life in a new city. He says, “At home in Kolkata I never had to bother about paying electricity and gas bills; here I have to look after everything myself. Luckily I have some school friends living with me, so we share responsibilities.”

The actor recently shot in Poland for Veera and tells us that it was an experience to remember. He says, “In Poland there are strict rules that do not allow crews to shoot for longer than 11 hours. I bought myself a metal gun and some hats for family and friends. The best part about the trip was the weather — we didn’t need to retouch our make-up!”