debameeta bhattacharya catches up with Karanvir Bohra, bad man of the small screen and Jhalak Dikhlaja 6 contestant
ONE of India&’s most popular reality shows on dance is back again with a bang and the celebrities lined up promise some mesmerising moves. Whether it’s the big screen’s Aarti Chhabria or singer-host Shaan or popular television stars — just name it and you’ll find it all. Talking about television stars, one can’t overlook Karanvir Bohra, the bad man of the small screen industry. Excerpts from an interview:

I’ve read a few interviews of yours where you’ve said you’re “scared to be hated by people”. How do you cope with the resemblance with all the negative characters you play?
   Initially, I did have a little difficulty as a person but then reading a lot about negative characters helped me to a great extent. The next step was to work on personality — dressing style, my looks, my body language, which I did and all my hard work did bear fruit and I was eventually accepted by the audience. They could finally differentiate between Viraj Dobriyal (my reel life) and Karanvir Bohra, which earned me a huge fan following. I always believe that an actor needs to diversify his potential and present himself as a commodity — which I believe I can.
 
You are participating in Season 6 of Jhalak Dikhlaja on Colors; how has the journey been so far?
   Jhalak Dikhlaja is a platform that I always had wished to be a part of. The journey so far has been good but a little shaky since it’s all so completely unpredictable. We are working very hard and rehearsing day and night and paving our way into the audience&’s hearts.

You also did a cameo in Season 5 with Salman Khan and Isha Sharvani in Teen ka tadka, and you had scored a perfect 30. Is this the reason why you choose to participate this year?
   Yes, in Season 5 I had performed with two of the best dancers then and scored a perfect 30. Being a trained Kathak dancer, it was a challenge for me to attempt other forms on Jhalak&’s stage, as it&’s a lot more than just dance. This time when the producers made the offer, I thought it was a golden opportunity to reconnect with my audience and this time through dance.

Your profile says you are a trained dancer. What’s your speciality?
   Yes, I am a trained Kathak dancer and have learnt the art from my guru, Pandit Birju Maharaj. Kathak is a very expressive form but I am super excited to try other forms too and Jhalak is giving me the platform. I also specialise in picking up dance forms in the shortest time span — two reasons: hard work and my choreographer, Sneha.

All social networking sites are talking about your new venture, Love You Soniye, with your wife. Tell us a little about that.
   Love You Soniye is an amalgamation of action, comic, dance, music and romance — a complete Punjabi film where my wife Teejay and I are playing lead roles.
 
And finally, any message for your fans?
   Well, all I want to say is a big thank you to all my fans who have always supported me, be it the negative characters that I’ve played or otherwise. Acting is in my genes and the one thing that I thoroughly enjoy doing is entertaining people and my shift and journey at Jhalak Dikhlaja will also be an effort towards this end.