The charm of being an actor is that you get to play varied shades and characters: Aashish Mehrotra

At the age of four, you might not have been able to decide on which colour candy or sweet you want, but it’s our own Aashish Mehrotra, who at this very age told his mom vehemently that he will become an actor although he hardly knew what acting meant then. Currently being loved as the brash Yudi in Channel V’s Paanch- 5 Wrongs Make A Right, the actor lives in his own dreams. Recalling his childhood fantasy, Aashish avers, “Not having a background in acting, I knew only hard work would take me towards my dreams. As I wasn’t that keen on studies, I took up dancing and that completely changed my world. I was the best dancer in school and soon after I started my own Dance Academy, which is doing quite well back home in Delhi.” “I took up a course in Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) on the persistence of my parents but at the same time was also training college students all around Delhi the art of dancing. I personally feel that I am a better choreographer than dancer (smiles); but dance was something that really helped me evolve as an actor. As for me, dance is not a skill, but an emotion and you learn most expressions while dancing. I am a trained in Hip Hop, Jazz and Contemporary dancing and feel that the last two are my forte,” admits the young lad. He had joined an acting school in Delhi learning the trick of acting, when the calling of Roadies Season 9 came by. Although Aashish got selected and was all set to fly off to USA, a last minute decision by the production house changed his plans. But rather than feeling dejected, Aashish booked his next flight to Mumbai and started his career in the city of dreams. “I started with an episodic of Fear Files which was then produced by Contiloe. From being in their montage first episode, I ended it with their last one as lead. Apart from the special journey with Fear Files I did a few other episodics but did not move to a daily. People always used to say that I might get selected for a GEC but cracking shows in Channel V was a difficult proposition. This is when I took it on myself and started pursuing hard enough to bag myself a role in Paanch,” adds the good looking boy. Although the character of Yudi is very different from his real self, Aashish enjoys playing it, as he shares, “That’s the charm of being an actor. You get to play various characters and shades. Also with the team being a fabulous one, I am getting to learn so much. Rashi (Mal) and Kiran (Srinivasan) really help me out while Pratap (Hada) is a very close friend. The entire team is an amazing one and we have a great time shooting.” With the show being a finite series, we wondered what plans the actor has post the show going off air. “I would like to take a small break and do some theatre. I would like to do some grey shade character with a heart. The combination of good and bad will be exciting to portray. As for dream roles I feel Leonardo Di Caprio’s portrayal of Jordan Belfort in Wall Street Journal definitely tops the list,” informs Aashish. All the best champ!