Vikram Singh Chauhan is enjoying playing a negative character in the Sony show, Ek Deewaana Tha (LSD Films Pvt Ltd). “One of the main reasons for saying yes was the huge twist from good to evil. Had it been a plain romantic guy who just dances around trees, I would have said no. I really loved the layers in Vyom.”
So how do you approach the negative character as an actor? “I don’t really try to act, but go with the flow, for if I will, I will go overboard. I only tried to understand the craziness from his convoluted point of view.”
“While following the script, I add a lot of my personal elements. I believe that psycho characters can’t totally be written. It needs to come from within as we all have some craziness. I am glad that my add-ons are being appreciated. The challenge is to bring out the badness, as I am not like him in real life”, says Vikram, who gained name and fame with Jaana Na Dil Se Door. His other shows include Qubool Hai and Ek Hasina Thi.
Are you not worried that doing a villain’s role will harm your future chances, typecasting you as a bad guy. “If it is destined that I will not get further work, I won’t, come what may, so why worry? And a good actor is one who does all kinds of roles. If I am not able to pull off a genre, it is my limitation as an actor. Also, no one could have done a negative role better than Shahrukh Khan in Darr; yet the superstar continues to get work even today, right?”
Some of your fans are upset that you have taken a negative detour. “While I appreciate their love for a character and the show, they also need to understand that I can’t keep doing the same stuff over and over again. Looking ahead, I would be game for comic roles as well.”
On the lower rating of the show, he says, “I never bother about TRPs. Had that been, I would have always only chosen big-rating shows. I always knew that Ek Deewaana Tha was an experiment, which could have gone either way, yet chose it, for it gave me a chance to play a meaty character.”
In closing, he refused to comment on the buzz that the show might get an extension. “I too have read about it but have not been told about it officially. Interestingly, there are also off-air reports doing the rounds, so I don’t really know what the scene is.”