Sudhanshu Pandey, who is popularly known for his role as Vanraj Shah in one of the most-watched television series Anupamaa, recently spoke about how the show brought a change in his life. He also addressed the rumours of him quitting the show and the accusation around the show’s producer favouring the actor. The actor jokingly said, “If the producer favoured me, I would have been playing the role of Anupamaa and not Rupali.”
Sudhanshu Pandey in a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan talked about various aspects of his life. Talking about his current show Anupamaa, the actor said, “I don’t know how much the show changed my life but I believe there are two types of audience, one who watch films and OTT and the others who watch television. I think this show made me immensely popular among television audience. I think this show not just made me or Rupali or other cast members famous, but it also producer Rajan Shahi experienced the landmark change.”
He added, “According to me in every 10-15 years, one show comes which becomes a cult and our show became a cult. It came around a time when COVID-19 had hit the country. We began to shoot during that time and during that time public was at home. Around that time, television had shows that showed off big houses, expensive jwellery, very rich looking set. Suddenly, with Anupamaa, the backdrop changed and you see a very typical middle class house where you have a small kitchen, there’s one dining table and a sofa and there’s a swing. That typical middle class setup changed the entire trend. Suddenly, people got connected to each and every family member of Anupamaa.”
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“The demographic of our nation mostly boasts of middle class families, this show first connected with people because of its middle class background and eventually people who are both above and below the middle class division also loved the show. In fact, there are rumours that even the Ambanis and big politicians’ families watch this show. What can be greater than this? It completely changed the trend. There surely has been a divine intervention, otherwise this popularity wouldn’t have been possible,” said the actor.
In between, there were rumours that the actor was planning to quit the show. Reacting to the same, Sudhanshu said, “No, I have never thought of leaving the show. I have never spoken anything such to anybody, neither I ever thought of it. I think when we have put so much hard work to make this show, today when Vanraj Shah’s character has become such an iconic character, his dialogue ‘Vanraj Shah is back’ has become so popular. So when you put so much effort to make a show, then why will you ever think of leaving that show when it’s in its peak? It’s illogical. Yes, if ever I will think that now I am tired playing this role, then maybe I will consider this. When I will feel that there’s no fun left in playing this character and I am exhausted and its been over three years doing the same thing then I may think of something else. But, to quit it? I haven’t ever thought of it.”
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Sudhanshu was also asked if the rumours of the show’s producer favouring him was true, Sudhanshu jokingly said, “If I got so much importance from Rajan, who is my old and good friend, and if we had so much closeness and love then I myself would have played the role of Anupama. So people who think I get much more importance from Rajan, they are wrong. I am not Anupamaa, I don’t drape a saree. That’s Rupali. I am Vanraj Shah and I will continue to be that. And I believe Rajan Shahi is a very sorted producer and a human being and he will never compromise on his show for any emotional reason.”
He added, “This is extremely wrong that he favours me. If that was the case then I would have taken advantage of it, I would have asked him to give me work all 30 days and pay me for all 30 days and if that cannot happen then remove Rupali and I will play the role of Anupamaa.” He laughed as he concluded his statement.
Anupamaa first came on television on July 13, 2020 on Star Plus. The show, directed by Romesh Kalra, also streams on Disney + Hotstar. The show is the official remake of Star Jalsha’s Bengali series Sreemoyee. Apart from Sudhanshu Pandey and Rupali Ganguly, the film also stars Madalsa Sharma and Gaurav Khanna in important roles.
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