Getting back to TV was the best thing, for I had already done enough harm to my career: Ashish Chowdhry

The hot and dashing Ashish Chowdhry known for his roles in movies like Dhamaal and Fight Club seems to be completing the acting circle by getting back on TV. Years back, he was seen as Rahul in the shoow Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye and now he returns to the small screen space playing Vikramaditya Scindia in Zee TV’s Ek Mutthi Aasman (DJ’s A Creative Unit). In a conversation with Tellychakkar.com, he talks about the wrong choices he made in his life, hardships faced, comeback as a businessman, sabbatical from the entertainment industry and his return to TV. Who will be handling your business (he is into advertising and security business) now that you’re on TV? “I have very good directors in the company so; I don’t have to worry about things now. Moreover my acting compliments my work as clients always find it ‘cool’ when it’s a known face and that way they also know that you’re not a fraud.” Why the sabbatical? “I wasn’t getting great films and at that point of time my wife was eight months pregnant and unfortunately my Dada and Mom met with an accident and the advertising business that we had came crashing down. Hence, the money that I was getting as a mutistarrer actor wasn’t enough for me to run my family. Hence, I focused on my business and got back with TV after a break. TV is a medium where you have a monthly income. But, if your film flops you do not get fourty percent of the amount as the Producer is anyway in debt and you have a good relationship with him. How can you depend on something like that? I want to see things clear for me now that is why I am here.” Weren’t you being offered better films? “It was in 2012 that I decided to make a comeback in the industry and I started spreading the word. But, all the scripts that came my way were multistarrer comedy. Dhamaal was my biggest hit in a multistarrer and honesty speaking I wasn’t getting a film of that caliber. I had stagnated with it and had I signed a film worst than Dhamaal my career would have gone down. So I thought let’s get into TV.” Furthermore, the actor went on to narrate why he chose to be a part of Ek Mutthi Aasman. “TV offers came handsomely to me and this is how Tony and Deeya (Singh – The Producers) came into my life. They have been friends for a very long time so when I approached them they thought we should do a film together. But then being the practical businessman I am, I know my standing in the market. I knew I had done enough harm to my career so getting back to TV was the best thing.” Lastly, he goes on to add, “You have to do a mass based show reason being saas-bahu work on TV. That is why I did not approach a Vikram Bhatt or an Anurag Kashyap to launch me back on TV. I think the seasonal producers know what works best on TV. Therefore, I got back on the medium with a show that has a social message. It is also very realistic as our domestic workers at home face such issues. It is also a home issue that has not been touched so far.” The show airs on 26 August 2013.