He is handsome, he is witty, he is a wonderful orator and knows how to attract his audience be it my his charm , acting or hosting.He is an extremely grounded human being. 4 years ago I had invited him to judge a personality contest in my college and he readily agreed. At that time his first daily soap was soaring the heights of success. One fine day I just messaged him on Facebook asking him to give his interview for my blog, initially I was skeptical whether he would recognize me as last we spoke was 4 years back, but he very sweetly agreed to give his interview without any formalities.The best thing about this man is that he does not forget people in his life. Let's Talk life with actor Abhijeet Khandkekar, where he talks about how he had no confidence in himself and how he overcame that, his experience in being an RJ, his first daily soap, love for his family and "Varan Bhaat", his hatred for liars and people who break traffic rules and his immense love and respect for acting.
- Kindly tell us something about yourself?
I come from a typical middle class Maharashtrain family born
in Ahmednagar. My father is a banker and had to move to different parts of
Maharashtra (Transfer on the job). We finally settled down at Nashik where I completed my graduation.
Due to my father’s frequent transfers, making
friends for me during school days was always difficult; hence I do not have any
school friends. I completed my schooling in a Marathi medium school; hence because of my accent and my dressing it was initially very difficult to adjust in a
city like Nashik. During those days I
had lost all my confidence due to inferiority complex. In Nashik I worked for a
local news channel and gave voice overs for documentaries and local ads.
After my graduation I shifted to Pune for further education and
did Masters in communications, a 2 years specialization degree in Video
production. I was pretty comfortable in Pune even though I had to stay alone. I
got good exposure in Pune. While my masters were on, I learnt that Radio Mirchi
was doing a RJ Hunt and wanted RJ’s in Marathi. I participated and got selected
among 1500 participants that gave me a boost. I joined as a trainee at ‘Radio
Mirchi’ (Pune), the team was so impressed by me that within few months of my training period
they offered me a permanent job, but I did not take it up due to my PG. After
my Post graduation I joined Radio City as a RJ for 3 years
.
At 23, I was bored with my job and Red Fm offered me a job of
a Programming head, I refused the offer as I was inclined to be a performer. My
father was the biggest and the strongest motivator who motivated me to pursue a
career in Acting
.
I participated for Zee Marathi’s acting reality show “Maharshtracha
Superstar” and was amongst the top 4, and learnt a lot during that. I
am fortunate that my struggle period was not too long; I gave audition and got
a lead role in Zee Marathi’s “Mazhiya Priyala Preet Kalena”. When
I started with the serial, I was very sceptical as to how the serial would
work, but with God’s grace the serial broke all the records. I got a lot of
recognition from that serial.
Music director, singer and director Avadhoot Gupte was
looking for a fresh face for his new film, I auditioned for it and got the role.
The movie was “Jai Maharashta Dhaba Bhatinda”
After that I hosted Zee Marathi’s famous singing reality show
“Sa Re Ga Ma Pa”. I always dreamt of hosting that show as I have always
been a big fan of Pallavi Joshi who has been hosting many seasons of the show.
After my first season of hosting the show I got applauded by Pallavi Joshi and
I was on cloud 9
With my experience of being an RJ and an actor, I host
events and shows nationally and internationally. I have compeered all the shows of Avadhoot Gupte, Ajay
Atul, Bela shende, Swapnil Bandodkar,
Zee gaurav, Mata Sanman , Zee Marathi Awards, Music awards, Shravan Queen
and many more. I am hosting various shows currently in Abroad like the BMM
convention in the U.S
Hosting is a parallel track; I am an actor first and want to
be known as an actor and not a Celebrity. Celebrity craves for fame but an
actor experiments with characters.
Coming to my likes and dislikes. I love watering my plants; I
am a complete movie buff, I enjoying roaming in malls and love complementing
people. I hate people who disobey traffic rules. At professional terms and
other way I hate liars. I can be pleased very easily.
- You started as an RJ , tell us something about it?
From a self conscious
boy to becoming an RJ in a Marathi centric city like Pune. I have worked hard
at all the stages of my life. The thing (My accent, voice) that people laughed
at before now applauded me for the same. I believe your city does not matter
only real talent does.
- What motivated you to be an Actor?
In Jr. K.G my report card said that I was an active student
that was one kind of a motivating factor. Firstly I want to thank my dad as I
mentioned earlier he had immense faith in my abilities. Secondly when I perform
in front of a full packed auditorium and get applauds motivated me that people
are liking my work and I can have a connect with people. Also according to me
an actor can Live Thousand Life’s in that one life, that gave me a kick to be
an actor.
- Tell us about your experience in playing a lead for a Marathi daily soap?
Honestly it took me
time to find myself while I was doing that daily soap. The serial was amazingly
crafted and so was my character. I feel it is the writer and the director’s
victory. When I saw my first article in the newspaper I was pretty normal with
me. Nothing changed that much. My parents felt happy for me and showed their
happiness in a very sweet way. My parents are very low profile. I got a lot of
applauds from my audience and everyone likes it when their work is appreciated.
The serial did very well and all of us got our due of recognition and love from
our audience.
- Apart from Acting and compering what do you do in your pastime?
Apart from acting and compering I do a lot of things that
make me happy like
- Watching films of all genres
- Attend film festivals
- I read a lot. Have to read a newspaper everyday
- I am foodie and love exploring places
- Love home cooked food especially “Varan Bhaat” prepared by my wife
- Love travelling
- Perks of choosing your career?
- There are obviously a lot of advantages of being an actor like:-
- Love from audience
- Respect we and our family gets
- A different kind of social acceptance
- We get a lot to experiment with ourselves
- Travel the world
- Live 1000 lives in 1 life
- Happiness and Satisfaction
- Challenges that you faced during your journey? How did you overcome them?
The challenges and
actor or a performer faces during his acting career is
- Acting and the industry is an unstable field
- No fixed working hours
- It is not that glamorous as we all see it to be
- A lot of fake people and fake promises are done
- There are challenges at every step, it is up to you how you face it
- Like for me my biggest challenge has been, when I was in my 8th grade, I had a very typical accent due to which I was always low on confidence and over conscious all the time. I overcame that today. I observed people, read a lot and today people appreciate me for my work and know me for my acting and oratory skills.
- Tell us about your upcoming projects? Any plans to enter Bollywood?
Currently everything is at a planning stage. I obviously want
to see myself someday in Bollywood and I know I will make it there someday. I
have many shows lined up this year. I have recently taken my film “Mamachya
Gavala Jauya” to Germany .I have 2 films to release this year in
Marathi – Dhol Tashe with Me, Hrishita Bhatt and Jitendra Joshi.
I am also working with Mahesh Manjrekar and Chandrkant Kulkarni
for an untitled project.
- What was your 'Nothing is Impossible moment'?
My Nothing is Impossible moment was when I won the RJ hunt in
Pune out of 1500 participants. That was the time I felt I had overcome my
challenge of the accent. As winning and presenting in a Marathi centric like
Pune, where everybody is so particular about the tonality and language was a
great deal for me. Initially on what I was laughed at now I was applauded and
appreciated for that. I believe in one thing it is not your city or town that
matters, if you have the right talent in you then nobody can stop you from
being successful.
- Lastly what advice would you give to the aspiring actors who want to make their mark in the field?
To all the aspiring
actors, I would only like to say that always be practical, have a back- up
plan, complete your education, take proper training, be grounded and have faith
and confidence in yourself.
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