Dheeraj Dhoopar: Missed celebrating my birthday with my family, want to make up for it this year

The only thing Dheeraj Dhoopar wished for when he celebrated his birthday on December 20 was to be able to spend most of his time with his loved ones, and not miss any opportunity to tell them how much he loves them. Not being with his family in Delhi is one thing the actor missed the most in 2020, and he wants to make up for that this year. However, in terms of work, Dheeraj says it’s been his best year so far. He started working soon after the lockdown in July. His show 'Kundali Bhagya' has been one among the top-rated shows, even when many TV shows are being canned for low TRPs or budget constraints. He was also appreciated for his “brief but interesting character”, Cheel Akesh, in 'Naagin 5'. By: Divya Kaushik

This is the longest that Dheeraj has stayed away from his parents, who are in Delhi. The actor shares that his parents might visit him soon in Mumbai. “I didn’t want to visit my parents as I started shooting and have been continuously going out. Though I’ve taken all precautions, I still wanted to be careful. This is the longest time I have stayed away from my home in Delhi. We are now planning to have my parents with us in Mumbai soon,” says the actor, who is missing the Delhi winters. “I’ve been planning a holiday just to experience that chill. I want to go back to Nainital, it is one hill station I love,” he says.

The actor says that 2020 was a great year for him in terms of work, as there was a time he was shooting for three projects in a day. Also, he says that his role in 'Naagin 5' was something he always wanted to do. “I loved my character in 'Naagin 5'. When I heard the storyline, I was looking forward to doing something like that. I still love to watch myself play that character. I am glad people loved it so much. I got immense love for Akesh, and I would love to do more such characters. It was interesting for me to do as I wanted to play a grey character. I also loved my look in the show. After the lockdown I had long hair, and people told me ‘don’t cut your hair’. But that was not going with my character in 'Kundali Bhagya', so I had to chop my hair. But I used to look forward to going on the 'Naagin' set every morning, getting ready in those long locks, kohl filled eyes, black outfit, jewellery. It was really exciting,” he says.

Dheeraj says he’ll look forward to doing more supernatural thrillers, if not on TV, then on other platforms. “I would love to do more supernatural thrillers on screen. If I am offered something similar on any other platform, I’d love to do it. I believe that a series like 'Naagin' will always be popular with the audience, no matter what platform it is on. India is a country of folklore and we have an audience for every kind of content. The TRP ratings of a show like 'Naagin' never went down on TV. What excites the audience is that they can imagine things. It is fantasy, a good looking girl turning into Naagin and a good looking boy turning into a Cheel and then a love story. All of us somewhere believe that Mowgli exists and' Jungle Book' is a real story, so the audience is easily fascinated by such stories. All this is very exciting for the audience,” says the actor, who now wants to focus on doing films, while he still continues to be on 'Kundali Bhagya.'

Dheeraj, who worked with Hina Khan in 'Naagin 5' and a music video, is all praise for the actress, and says he’s found a wonderful friend in her. He tells us, “Hina is a great co-actor, even greater actor and a thorough professional. I’ve learnt so many things from her. She is so successful and I know the reason is that she is so hardworking. She is very humble. I would love to do more work with her. If producers are listening, they should come up with something with the both of us, please offer us some good work together. We knew each other since the time she was doing 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai' and I was doing 'Maat Pitaah Ke Charnon Mein Swarg', both by the same production house. We used to meet at events and parties, but we never were friends. We became friends after doing 'Naagin 5'. I hope we do more work together in future.”