Fangs and fame

Vivian Dsena who's stealing hearts as a vampire in a popular Hindi serial

MP: Abhay aka Vivian Dsena

Move over Edward Cullen. We now have a desi vampire. Unlike his international counterparts, thankfully this one doesn't sparkle in the sunlight and looks fairly human, except when in a rage — that's when his eyes turn bright blue and his fangs come out. Too bad he can't see his own reflection in the mirror, for he's rather good looking. It's time to say hello to 23-year-old Vivian Dsena, who plays Abhay Raichand, a vampire, in the Hindi serial ‘Pyar Ki Yeh Ek Kahani'.

“It's a new concept for Indian audiences and initially I wasn't sure if it would work. But Ekta Kapoor convinced me it would be a great show and I was in,” he says. And if the actor is to be believed, not just 13 to 20-year-olds but even older audiences seem to find the programme entertaining. “Recently a middle-aged man came up to me and said that he really enjoys the show and I was thrilled,” he exclaims.

Most viewers of the show can trace its similarity to Stephanie Meyer's

Twilight series. Heavily inspired by the popular fiction franchise, PKYEK too has its share of good vampires, bad ones, the werewolf clan and amidst all the transmogrification and neck biting, a love story. “Very often I am compared to Robert Pattinson and it's an honour. I did watch ‘Twilight' to get a fair idea of how a vampire should be. But when I met Ekta she told me I needed a different expression. Nothing like Cullen's but something which is unique to Raichand. So I frown all the time. It is rather difficult to do this with contact lenses on...it gives me a headache.”

And that's not his only worry. Grinning, he adds, “Since my character is always dressed in black — black shirt, black coat and black trousers — and the shooting takes place in a film studio in Mumbai it can get very hot. Also talking with fangs on can be a problem and they don't look good on me.” But he seems to be fine with that as it is a small price to pay for success.

Finding Vivian

It is hard to find the real Vivian Dsena on Facebook. A search throws up numerous results with his photograph on all the profile pictures. And each of the profiles' walls are flooded with messages from fans especially young girls who want to “make friendship” with the small screen hunk. There are even a few forums where fans have posted queries on how to find and befriend the real Vivian on social networking sites. Amused he says, “One morning while having my

chai I was trying to log into my FB account and it kept saying log-in failure. An email popped up informing me that I had been banned from Facebook for logging in using the identity of Vivian Dsena. I had to show them my driver's licence and other proofs to get my account back!”

Not many know that Vivian didn't want to be an actor. The poster boy came to Mumbai from Ujjain to be a model and his friend made him audition for a serial. That's how he bagged his first role in “Kasamh Se”, followed by “Ganga” and now this supernatural romance drama. “I was actually into football. Pursued a eleven-year career in the sport and also played all-India tournaments. Destiny brought me to the television industry and I am grateful for the opportunities. I have got everything I could have asked for,” sums up a cheerful Vivian.

As for vampire fans you don't have to fly all the way to Forks to see one, just tune into Star One.