Rithvik Dhanjani-I was shocked and glad when Ekta maam shortlisted me for PKYEK

A page from the personal diary of Rithvik Dhanjani Hello readers!!! I am Rithvik Dhanjani and I hail from Dubai. I belong to family which is into business. I completed my graduation (correspondence) from City of London College. During my college days, I used to organize events, did modeling and have even hosted many shows apart from studying. Later in Dubai, I did theatre for two and half years. My first priority was always acting and if I would not have been an actor, then I would have been a magician or a choreographer. I shifted to Mumbai to pursue acting. I have no relatives staying here. But then I met one of my friends from Dubai with whom I stayed as a paying guest. I shall always be thankful to his family for all my life for supporting me. Before entering the television industry, I did my acting course from Kishore Namit Kapoor Institute. Later, took training from my biggest inspiration Abhijit Das. Soon, I started appearing for auditions. I used to appear for 10 to 12 auditions in a day of which according to me 80 per cent of them were fake and stupid. After lot of hard work, I got my first opportunity to act for an Airtel advertisement (FIFA) for which I was paid Rs 5000. After that, I did many advertisements for brands like Lipton (ad for Pakistan), Vascon (corporate ad), Jaquar lights, Sprite, LAYS chips (World Cup 2011). I have also shot for a short film titled Aftermath Mumbaiand a feature titled Jo Hum Chahein in which I played a negative role. I never wanted to get into television. But one day, I got a call from Ekta Kapoor saying, “We have shortlisted you for my show Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani (PKYEK). She also said that “you have something in you.” This shocked me and I was very happy. I was elated just with the thought that Ekta maam called me up and has shortlisted me. I respect her a lot. Not wanting to tell her “no”, I grabbed the opportunity and essayed the role of Jay Khurana. I was glad that I played a werewolf character for the first time ever on Indian television. It was a negative character, but at the same time very challenging. I had a good time on the sets of PKYEK; I still miss all the fun and pranks that we used to play on the sets. Lastly, I want to thank my fans for all their love and support and would want them to support me for years to come. Cheers!!!