Actor and choreographer Shantanu Maheshwari made his debut with Channel V’s Dil Dosti Dance in 2011. The 28-year-old actor has since been a part of shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (season 9) and Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi (season 8) among many others.
Maheshwari is now a part of Alt Balaji’s web series Medically Yourrs. In conversation with Guardian 20, he spoke about playing a doctor for the first time and his journey since his TV debut.
Q. Tell us about your role in the web series Medically Yourrs?
A. I am playing Abir Basu in Medically Yourrs. He is a medical student born into a family of doctors. He lives under the immense pressure of proving himself worthy in the eyes of his father, who is a doctor too. Besides being extremely naive, immature and unpredictable, Abir is also fun-loving, naughty and an avid music buff. His best friend is Nibe and the two have been close buddies right from their childhood. Medically Yourrs is a medical drama which highlights the ups and downs in the life of a medical student in an extremely amusing and quirky way. In the show, we have tried to keep everything real, from characters to situations. It realistically depicts every moment that an MBBS student faces in their final year and the pressure of not just performing to the best of their abilities, but also surviving despite the pressure.
Q. This is the first time you are playing a doctor on screen. How did you prepare for this role?
A. I am playing the role of a student who is in his fourth year of MBBS. I really didn’t have to go to any kind of college or learn something, in terms of dissections, holding scissors or scalpels—nothing of that sort, as the script didn’t require that kind of training and scenes. Other than that, I had to concentrate on my character, get into the skin of Abir and share the right the chemistry with my friends, family members and understand the way my character thinks.
Q. You are both a dancer and actor. What do you enjoy more?
A. Both make me equally happy. I am passionate about dancing as well as acting. And I try to balance my projects as much as I can. It is something that I hope I will continue to do while I move forward in my career.
Q. Tell us about your journey since Dil Dosti Dance. How do you look back on your career?
A. The journey, I feel, has been good so far. Having come a long way, I am happy with the graph and the people I have worked with. I am delighted with the way I have grown as an individual and in terms of a performer—both as an actor and dancer. I hope to continue doing the same. I feel it’s just the beginning and there is so much to be explored and done. As they say, “Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost”. For me, the audience is the right judge. They are the ones who have been with me throughout my journey, right from day one, and can track it much better.
Q. How did acting happen to you?
A. Actually, acting happened to me while dancing. I used to dance a lot in colleges and college fests. From there, I got the opportunity to meet the production people who were looking out for new faces and decent dancers. That’s how I got picked up and gave auditions. It was by sheer luck that I got selected for my first acting project and started my training by attending workshops.
Q. What keeps you busy when you are not acting?
A. Dancing and acting take a lot of time and energy. Apart from that, I love playing sports, listening to music, watching movies and catching up with my friends. Overall, I like to keep myself busy.
Q. What sort of challenges did you face in the early days of your acting career?
A. I think when I got my first acting project, it was acting with which I was struggling. Getting my dialogue delivery right was the most important thing at that time. If I had four lines, the whole focus was on learning those lines—on how I could deliver the lines by understanding the emotions of the character and what he’s going through. I believe another challenge that I faced was that viewers took some time accepting me as a full-fledged actor.
Q. What kinds of roles would you like to play in the future?
A. I would like to play any challenging role that I haven’t done in the past. I don’t restrict myself, and go by the script and the character that is being offered to me. I don’t have any fixed notion in mind that I have to play this character only. Versatility is what I believe in and I would like to play different and interesting characters.
Q. In recent times, many television actors/actresses have made a shift to the big screen. Do you have any such plans?
A. Every actor wants to be a part of movies and do good films. I am glad that people are accepting TV actors on the big screen as well. I believe when the time and opportunity is right, you will get something or the other. I am trying and working hard towards it.
Q. What are the projects you are now working on?
A. I was working on Medically Yourrs. The show is now finally out and all 10 episodes can be watched on ALTBalaji. My entire focus was on this, as I was acting on screen after a very long time. Knowing that I had to do absolute justice to the character and the show, I chose not to occupy myself with anything else.
Maybe, I will once again start going for auditions, reading scripts and come back on screen or on any other platform which offers something good.