Tellyblazer: Exclusive – Kundali Bhagya’s Prithvi aka Sanjay Gagnani on facing rejections: I face it even today but I take it in my stride

Television actor Sanjay Gagnani is currently entertaining the audience with his acting chops as the vicious villain Prithvi Malhotra in Kundali Bhagya. The 32 year-old, who has been in the showbiz for a really long time, acquired a new-found fame through Kundali Bhagya. Sanjay, whose character was supposed to be a cameo for 3 months, extended for 3 and a half years and is still going strong.In an exclusive conversation with ETimes TV, Sanjay Gagnani bared his heart out about the love he received through this daily soap, experimenting with films as a rookie in the entertainment industry and facing rejections. The actor is a romantic at heart, also revealed about his ‘filmy’ real life love story. Read on:
About Kundali Bhagya
Balaji (Production house of Kundali Bhagya) is home and I re-entered the show last month. Since February, I have been shooting continuously. It’s been one and a half month now and it feels great to be back in the top show of Indian television. It has always been very welcoming and has been a magical journey for me as we all know that my role was supposed to be a cameo for three months, and now it’s been more than three-and-a-half years since I have been on the show, and whatever I am today, is because of this show. So, it has been a very overwhelming and magical journey for me and it is treating me like never before.
On playing an antagonist and still being loved
Till date, even I am not just surprised but shocked to receive the audience reaction, because when I got to know I’m going to be a villain on this show; I was ready for all the hate and abuse that a villain should receive from the viewers, but surprisingly, it was the other way round. Slowly and gradually Prithvi Malhotra has been one of the most lovable villains, and I think this is the first time in the history of not just the television medium but any medium of our country where a villain is loved by the audience. So, I think I have been able to achieve that feat.

On being listed in iconic villains list by ETimes TV
Recently, I was also listed in the top 10 iconic villains by ETimes TV. (Thanked us) I was so happy and jumping in joy. It was truly overwhelming because apart from me all the other nine actors were so experienced and so senior to what I am. So, being listed among those actors was a big achievement for me, and I still feel I have a very very long way to go.
On being called a ‘Villain Hero’ and ‘Casanova’ by fans on social media
Coming back to Prithvi, he is called a ‘villain hero’ and the Casanova word is absolutely right because in the same house, there’s a girl who is his girlfriend, his love-interest, his wife and previously also had an ex-girlfriend. He is unpredictable, a super villain and he is somebody one cannot understand. He is totally different from what we have seen previously on the television. So, I think the entire credit goes to the producer, Ekta Kapoor ma’am, the creative director and its team, the writer of the show for shaping up Prithvi Malhotra like no other villain was ever shaped up. The credit goes to the viewers also for accepting him because without this acceptance nothing is possible.

Girlfriend Poonam’s reaction to the female gazes at him
She feels proud and very lucky. At times when she finds out a particular girl or a gang of girls checking me out, she feels proud ‘Okay, this is the guy you are checking out but he is mine, he belongs to me.’ So, she’s never insecure and she just feels happy and proud whenever such instances happen.
About his wedding with Poonam Preet Bhatia
I don’t think I’ll be able to answer this question for the next couple of months but yes, very soon.

About his real-life love story
It’s a total filmy story and is a social media love story. We both connected with each other for the first time on Facebook, and we started chatting and speaking over the call. After a month, I asked her to come to Mumbai because I found her very photogenic, and I felt she should try her luck here in Mumbai because the entertainment industry is here. She used to do print modelling in Delhi, so I asked her to come down here. She was very kind enough to come and see me, and that’s how our love story began. We spent time with each other for a week and that’s when we felt that we were meant for each other. When she was flying back to Delhi, that’s when I proposed to her at the airport in front of hundreds of people, and she promised me that she will be back to Mumbai, not for a week or month but forever. And, that’s what she did after a month, she moved to Mumbai for me and we have been in a live-in relationship since then.

Fear of getting typecast as an antagonist
Never. As I said the viewers have given me a name ‘Villainero,’ which means ‘Villain Hero.’ So, a lot of them see me as a villain, and a lot of them see me as a hero. I have managed not to get typecast as of now. I just feel blessed that I never got typecast, and I did not have to break any image, thanks to my show’s team because they have presented and portrayed me in such a manner that only my activities are evil but when you look at Prithvi Malhotra, he doesn’t look like a villain. So, his look is contradicting his activities. So, the audience and other producers are very intelligent and they know that his performance is that of a villain. And they have been able to differentiate that he is an actor, who doesn’t look like a villain but plays a villain. So, they know that they can cast me as a hero in their projects in the future. Trust me when I say this, I have no fear of getting typecast because I believe that all these producers in the television, digital and film mediums; they have a broad vision to cast me in various characters.
On doing films like ‘Rakhtbeej’ and ‘Heroine’
Honestly, I was experimenting at that time, I was very new, and I took up those two films. It was a very good learning experience but later on when I realized that I should be very choosy in terms of selecting content and projects, that’s when I stopped focusing on the quantity, and started focusing on quality. Obviously, I want to do projects on digital and films too but I will only do it when the content is strong enough, and my role is so impactful that it could have the scope of winning the audience’s hearts and leave a mark in their minds.

On facing rejections and being replaced
Yes, many times. It happens with every actor and even after being listed in the top iconic villains of the industry, (gestured towards his own self), and is happening even now. Rejection is a part of an actor’s life. I feel even when I’ll do films, the rejections will continue because there are a lot of factors. But yes, I want to tell everyone and actors from any medium, ‘Please take failures in your stride. If you face rejections that doesn’t mean you are not capable. It just means that the time is not right. If the time is not right today, then the time will be better tomorrow or day after tomorrow as they say ‘apna time aayega.’ So, aapka time bhi aayega (Your time will definitely come). If the time is already right, there are instances when suddenly things start to not work out the way that they should have but it’s not necessarily important that all of the 365 days will be good and you’ll always have success in life, aisa nahi hai (It’s not that way). The most successful people in the world also face failures. They also have their own shares of lows and downfalls but what matters is how you get up and get back with a bang.’ So, yes, I face rejections even today and I take it in my stride, and try to get back with a bang. Iconic cricket players like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, even they don’t have their best innings every time. After three matches, in their fourth match maybe, they manage to make only 10 runs and, at times, they even get out at duck, but they don’t give up. They practice, they work hard, they polish their craft and they get back with a bang. This is the quality of successful people.
Is there any actor that you admire?
I look up to not just actors but every human being that I come across. I try to learn and grab good qualities from every human around me. If there is an artist that comes on our show for one day, I don’t look down upon them because they are also actors and they are also performers. If I get to learn anything from them, I look up to them also, thinking ‘yeh cheez toh isne bahut achhi ki, ye shayad mai nahi kar sakta, but mujhe seekhne ko mili (The artist has performed a particular scene very perfectly, maybe I would never be able to do it, but I got to learn how to do it.)’ So, I am a learner for life and because I am an actor, an observer. I always look around for positive things. I look up to learning something new from every person that I come across. Not just from actors but every human being.

On working during difficult times of the pandemic
Yes, I have learned that COVID cases are rising. I am sitting right below the poster of the COVID guidelines stuck. Our studio has been taking all kinds of precautions and I have removed my mask because I am right outside my room and I have to speak to you. As soon as I am done with this, I am going to wear my mask, sanitise my hands. So, yes it is a little difficult to assure hundred percent safety when you’re working among 70-80 people everyday but we try our best by following all the guidelines laid down by the government and ensuring safety on the set and in the studio.