'I am not worried about future'

Popularly known as  Shivaji on small screen for his serial Veer Shivaji, Paras Arora is ready to hit big screen with Rajjo, this november. With only a month left for the film, directed by Vishwas Patil, to release, Paras shares his experience of day one of the shoot for his debut film, his expectations and future plans.

First day was certainly not what he had expected. It was a hellish experience; after all, he ended up being yelled at by the director for not being prepared for his introductory scene!
“It was horrifying,” remembers Paras. “I had to play the harmonium for my introduction scene and I was not prepared. Vishwas Sir (the director) was particular about it and wanted it to be perfect, as if I was a trained harmonium player. While he was shouting I was clueless because I was told about the scene a day before the shoot, which according to Vishwas Sir, had been conveyed to me a month prior,” says Paras.

The miscommunication was sorted out after Vishwas Patil shouted at Paras and the entire team. But this wasn’t the end. Paras told Vishwas that the scene could be shot a “little less perfectly”. “He gave me a dressing-down for saying that to him. I cannot forget it my entire life,” says the 19-year-old, who today feels privileged to have worked with Vishwas and to share screen space with the likes of Kangna Ranaut, Mahesh Manjrekar and Prakash Raj.

“Working with Kangna was amazing,” says the young man who in the film falls in love with the nautch girl Rajjo (Kangna). “In my first shot with her, I had to caress her neck and I was a bit tense about it two to three days prior to the shoot. I told her if in case I hold her tightly, she can stop me. But she simply said, ‘don’t worry, do exactly what you have been asked to do’.”
Since everything was new, Paras had to put in a lot of effort to justify his role. Well acquainted in portraying historical characters in serials like Veer Shivaji, Meera, Jai Maa Durga, Paras had to go through a theatre workshop for Rajjo.

“Since I played characters related to history my dialogue delivery used to be bit loud and stiff,” says Paras, who was teased by his director very often. “If my dialogue delivery was not upto the mark, Vishwas sir used to sarcastically say, ‘Ab to ghode se utar jao’.”

Paras considers Rajjo an opportunity to break his own stereotypical image. “Nothing could have been better than this to test my acting skills.” He calls it a risk too as he left his popular TV show behind.

“Considering my age, I shouldn’t be worried about the future. When I started doing serials I never thought I will get opportunity like Veer Shivaji and above all, it will turn out to be a popular too. Likewise, I am not worried about what will happen next. I am only happy to work with a great team,”
he shares.