After portraying the arduous character of Bhaiyyaji, Ashish Sharma is portraying the magnanimous role of Chandragupta Maurya on Imagine TV.

Ashish has taken up a role that Rushiraj Pawar has stamped in the minds of the audience. What were the challenges that Ashish faced when he stepped into the highest rated show on Imagine TV?

In an exclusive conversation with TellyBuzz, Ashish speaks about his role in the show...

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How do you feel being back on small screen?
It is great to be back on the sets and I cannot imagine not being associated with a show sitting idle.

You are portraying a character which Rushiraj has created as the benchmark. Now the responsibility is on you.
Yes Rushiraj has done a fantabulous job and I have met him before he left the show. Rushiraj has left behind the job to me and thus the responsibilities are really high. Sometimes I really feel scared because people have the double expectations now.  

Chandragupta Maurya is Imagine's highest rated show. How do you feel being a part of it?
It feels really great to be part of such a great show and the fact that it is the highest rated show makes me even more responsible. But frankly speaking I have never really given concern about the ratings because you do not know the criteria on which it is decided.

You are portraying the title role of the show for the first time. Were you nervous?  
Not really, because at the end of the day I am portraying my role and finally doing my job. When somebody shows faith in you, the determination automatically comes.

There are a lot of stunts in the show; how are you preparing yourself for the character?
Since there are stunts I have got myself trained in Tai Chi and Kalaripayattu, also I have learnt horse-riding as well. Besides that I have read a lot about Chandragupta Maurya mainly the Greek History because it has more details from his point of view. Indian history has mainly dealt about Chanakya and his ideas.

What was the main challenge when you started doing the show?
The main challenge for me was being an individual I should not, in any way, resemble to the earlier character that I have done. For that, I had to work on my body language, my physique and my complete appearance. Since Chandra Gupta is a complete street kid who had learned everything through guerrilla warfare, I tried to take inputs from the character of Dastan from the movie Prince of Persia. To give a rough look, I grew my hair as well. First we thought to show the character bare chested, but later on we fitted the armour for the tough look.  

Diction is one of the most important aspects when an actor is doing mythic and historic shows. Have you felt the difficulty in grasping the Sanskrit words in the normal conversation?
Since I am fluent in Hindi I did not have a difficulty in grasping the language.

How is the experience working with Manish Wadhwa?
He is a brilliant actor to work with. We play a lot of pranks on the sets and since he could not do it with Rushiraj, he is fulfilling his wishes with me (laughs).

Your promos have been really alluring. How has the response been?
The response has been mind blowing and I am glad that people are liking it.

How is the experience shooting in Baroda?
It is raining here and I was down with Malaria for some days. I do not have problem adjusting with the food because I have a restricted diet and cannot have anything and everything.  

Any memorable incidents so far?
Actually I have not yet shot much to have memorable experiences. Perhaps after a few episodes I would be able to tell that.

Now that you are portraying the character of Chandragupta Maura, what is the quality in him that has attracted you the most?
Chandragupta Maurya was a great student and that one factor has really caught me. He strongly believes in the philosophy that one has to be a very good student.

After Gunahon Ka Devta, was it tough for you to get out of the skin of Bhaiyyaji as he was also a fearsome character?
It was tough initially because once you have lived that character for a long time it definitely is difficult to get yourself out of it. But now I have come out of it and purely concentrate on portraying Chandragupta.

What would you like to say to your fans?
I would like to tell them to keep watching the show and I will try to give them better always. I love you all.

Reporter and Author: Saranya Valsarajan