You’d remember him as Raja of Saat Paake Bandha, the Zee Bangla megaserial. Or in Elar Char Adhyay, paired with Paoli Dam, and most recently in Aami Aar Aamaar Girlfriends, romancing Parno Mittra. Now Vikram Chatterjee has trekked from Tollywood to Zee TV’s acting talent hunt India’s Best Cinestars ki Khoj. Having made it to the finals of the show, being judged by Anurag Basu- Sonali Bendre-Vijay Krishna ‘Dhoom:3’ Acharya, the 26-year-old Calcuttan is keeping his fingers crossed for the crown and the chance to star in a film written and creatively supervised by Mahesh Bhatt. A t2 chat in Mumbai.

You were a rather late entrant on the show. How did that happen?

It’s been just three weeks that I am here. The others have been here for three months. I was informed by Zee Bangla that the show was on the lookout for good actors as wildcard entries. Since I was busy with the promotions of my film Britto, I could not audition rightaway and sent them a video clip instead. They liked it and I was flown to Bombay. Finally, I was one of the four wildcard entries on the show.

How has it been in these three weeks?

The day I came for the Bombay auditions, hundreds of people were auditioning and I was scared whether I would get lost in the crowd. Ever since I have got into the show, there have been only two days when I could sleep for six hours. Otherwise we get barely two hours of sleep.

What has been the biggest challenge?

When we Bengalis speak Hindi, the accent becomes a problem. I am working on it. Also I am not a great dancer, unlike Akshay (Nalawade, another finalist who was a dancer for five years in Shiamak Davar’s troupe and has performed at major award shows) I have to put in a lot of effort. But I believe dance is a supporting act for actors, not the other way round. Shah Rukh Khan or Ajay Devgn are not the best dancers but they make up with their expressions.

Is your acting experience helping?

Not really. We are having to perform on stage, not on camera. There are no retakes. If you forget your lines, there is no scope to make up in the dubbing theatre.

Of the two other male finalists, who is the bigger rival?

If I can outperform myself.... I am a winner. What is the point of comparing myself with others? Will it help Shah Rukh Khan if he compares himself to Naseeruddin Shah? He would rather look at his own last film and see how much he has improved. This journey will be over tomorrow. But what I learn on the show will stay with me. Anurag Basu is guiding me. What more can I want? He praised me on camera saying that he knew what it took for an actor from a regional film industry to make it to this level. This platform is a short cut to Bollywood. Otherwise, to be considered for a Mahesh Bhatt film would have taken two years of doing the rounds of the studios.

High energy!

I did a scene from Chennai Express in front of Priyanka Chopra. She praised my energy level. When that comes from someone who has acted with Shah Rukh Khan, who is known in the industry for his energy level, it is huge!