Ashish Sharma is calm and composed. The excitement over the fact that he is playing Ram in Siya Ke Ram, a mega TV serial from Star Plus is yet to sink in, even though he is only a few weeks away from beginning the shoot. As of now, Ashish Sharma is more popularly known as Rudra from Rangrasiya and for his awesome dance moves in the Jhalak Dikhla Ja show. A student of the Anupam Kher acting institute, Ashish’s love for acting brought him to Mumbai, instead of NSD that he thought he would join. “I always had this dream to act, so much so even as a child, I used to take part in Ram Leelas. Guess what role I played? Hanuman! Year after year I played Hanuman; I still don’t know why,” laughs Ashish as he breaks a part of the Alu Tikki that is served to him on the table. Ashish says he is still unable to come to terms with the fact that his childhood dream of playing Ram in Ram Leela is going to realise. “Ram Leela didn’t happen but what a way to see my dreams coming true,” says this 'Love, Sex Aur Dhoka' actor. He says his grounded upbringing and belief that he should lead life as set by examples at home have helped him prepare for his role as Ram. The entire cast and crew of Siya ke Ram are presently in Ramoji Film City (RFC) where most of the shooting will take place. The sets are opulent and once inside, it feels like you have been transformed into a real palace. At RFC, the cast was unveiled and the formal announcement of the show was made by the channel head, in the presence of the creative director and the cast. When the role was being discussed with Ashish, the creator of the show was clear that they want “to show Ram as one already perceives through books, posters or calendars. We all have this idea of Ram being a patient person besides being a great archer, a horse-rider and above all a compassionate king. There is more to him than that. He will be slightly different here,” he explains.
“In preparing for this role, I needed to have my own long hair, instead of a wig. So for the past seven months, I have been growing my hair, learning combat skills and horse riding and then trying to calm myself down to play the character. To immerse in the character is very important to give a true portrayal of what one is playing on screen,” he elaborates. From playing Rudra to Ram has therefore been quite a change for this actor.
What about other projects? Ashish is honest in saying he hasn’t looked at any other projects, because, “Siya Ke Ram will leave us with hardly any scope to think of other projects. And I wouldn’t want to work on something and not be whole hearted in it either.”
Creative talk
After successfully giving a new image to the look of Mahadev’, different from what we have seen in calendars, creative head of Star Plus Anirudh Pathak started thinking of narrating the Ramayan in new format once again. “We have seen different dimensions of Ramayan. So what was pending? Then we thought that we haven’t heard the Ramayan from Sita’s view point. She’s not different from Ram. She was with him always and that was her choice. She was a warrior herself and her story was out of compassion and not a compulsion. This Ramayan is racy, technologically upgraded as regards to shoots, camera, sets, locations etc. If we aren’t giving them the flavour of ‘Game of Thrones’ then there was no point in telling the Ramayan once again,” says Anirudh.
