I was born and brought up in Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi. Since I had always been intrigued by sketches and design, after school I enrolled at the Pearl Academy, Delhi, for a course in fashion. In Pearl, I discovered that I was a great communicator. I would do small skits and people simply loved them. I knew then that acting was my real calling. However, my parents wanted me to continue with the course and get a job first.
In 1996, I joined a fashion house in Delhi but quit the job within six months. That was a big turning point in my career. I decided to follow my passion. The same year, I joined Delhi-based theatre groups including Natkhat and Kshitij.
One thing led to another and I got my first break in advertising while doing theatre in Delhi. In 1998, I did my first television advertisement for Century Plywood. I also moved to Mumbai the same year looking for a bigger break.
Advertising came in handy and I did more than 90 commercials in a span of few years. In 2000, I auditioned for my first television show, Life Nahin Hai Ladoo, along with 50 other actors. I was selected to play the main character, Ladoo. That was a big move as television offered me a platform to reach out to a wider audience.
Playing Nandu, a geeky boy-next-door in the soap Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahi (2003) took my career to a new level.
With digital media making its mark in India, I was tempted to explore this medium. I started making self-shot videos as Chutki and Shopkeeper in 2010 and uploaded them on YouTube and Facebook. But it was on a small scale.
Another big break in my life was acting in Jhumroo, Jhoomo, Nacho Gao, the musical show at the entertainment hub Kingdom of Dreams in Gurgaon in 2012. Watching the reaction of the audience made me more confident.
Right now I am focusing more on making Chutki videos. I want to make Chutki a brand in itself. So, last year I was very active on social media — on Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram. Though it’s a bit bizarre, but people love it. Recently, one of my videos trended on Dubsmash in the US as the funniest video from India. Dubsmash is a very popular mobile app that creates short videos where one lip-syncs or ‘dubs’ popular songs or dialogues.
People Dubsmash the dialogues in my videos in Pakistan and Dubai. That is a big achievement since my videos are so raw yet they appeal to people.
I do one thing at one time, and, currently I am very happy with the digital world. I also have a few television projects coming up, but for now I would like to make more innovative videos for my fans.
(As told to Sarbani Sen)
