Prince Charming

Actor Nakuul Mehta uses his charms to optimum effect to connect with audiences and get their attention.

He’s the kind of guy any girl would want to take home to meet the parents. The man’s got the looks, an affable personality and the good manners to endear him to just about everyone. No wonder Rajshree Productions chose him to essay the role of Aditya Diwan, the guy with a heart of gold on Pyar Ka Dard Hai Meetha Meetha Pyara Pyara on Star Plus.

Nakuul’s tryst with the entertainment industry began during his college days when director Satish Kaushik spotted and cast him in a leading soft-drink commercial. And like they say, the rest is history. He went on to be the face that’s launched many a product ranging from colas to toothpastes, to motorbikes and even a men’s fairness cream alongside Shahrukh Khan. All this and more while still pursuing a Masters degree in Commerce. Reveals Nakuul, “While I modelled and subsequently started working in theatre, I also did summer internships in the financial markets and a dot-com start-up. Having a strong academic foundation was something that was ingrained whilst I was very young. Yet the dream of doing something in the entertainment industry was always at the back of my head. Without trying too hard, I managed to get some really good work in the advertising space and that gave me the initial encouragement to keep at it.”

“My family was absolutely supportive of my dreams and took great pride in the fact that I started working at such a young age. My parents gave me the choice to follow my dreams of working in the entertainment industry or go after the much more conventional academic route of getting a Management education and that is something I value greatly, even today. Nobody in my family is in the entertainment industry.”

What Nakuul doesn’t divulge easily about his family is that his great grandfather Mehta Laxmi Lal was the prime minister of Udaipur and he traces his lineage back to Prithvi Raj Chauhan. When prodded on his aristocracy he says in all humility, “It feels great to be part of such a legacy yet I see myself as just another law abiding citizen of my country who has dreams of entertaining and touching people through his work.”

And his work speaks for itself indeed. Nakuul has over 60 commercials to his credit, acted in about 15 plays, worked on a mainstream Bollywood movie (Haal-e-dil), did an independent short film (Avant Garde Pythagoras Sharma) and is now the lead protagonist of Pyar Ka Dard Hai. When quizzed on his diverse range of projects he explains, “I’m not someone who chooses his medium and then decides to act. These are projects I have been terribly excited about at a certain point of my life and gone ahead and done them with my full potential.”

Despite a relatively smooth entry into the entertainment industry, Nakuul, like every artist has had his fair share of highs and lows but says, “The struggle never really gets over. Initially it’s about getting the right break, then you have to prove your mettle, continue to strive to do good work and that cycle never ends. It also keeps you on your toes to continue doing your best.”

And we look forward to seeing him better the best.

On acting

“Television as a medium is amazingly big. I am hugely motivated by the reach it gives me to put my work out there for audiences to react to and that is extremely gratifying.”

New spin

American Horror Story

If you thought American Horror Story’s Murder House was spooky, just wait until you experience Briarcliff Manor, the insane asylum at the center of the FX drama’s second season, aptly subtitled Asylum. But while there are plenty of tangible scares — a vicious serial killer named Bloody Face, a Nazi doctor whose failed experiments roam the woods just beyond the Manor’s boundaries and… aliens — it’s the psychological terror co-creator Ryan Murphy has added that will send you running for the hills.

Did you know…

Television watching in Japan seems to be a national passion. In fact, this passion is called “ichioku-so-hakuchi-ka” which means “one hundred million people go crazy”.

Trending…

The CW Network has ordered Cycle 20 of America’s Next Top Model. In Cycle 20, for the first time, male models will be added to the group of contestants competing for the title of America’s Next Top Model, and will move into the models’ house alongside the women. Also viewers will continue to vote for their favourite models though social media.

Former participants of reality show Bigg Boss, Pooja Bedi and Sky Walker (Aakashdeep Sehgal) will soon be seen on another reality television series. The two hit it off really well after the previous season of Bigg Boss came to an end. They have even been spotted going on vaccations together. So what new show is going to snag this couple?

Tags: featured, full-image, Nakuul Mehta

Category: TV