Exclusive! Substandard concepts will not be consumed by viewers, says Shabir Ahluwalia

Actor Shabir Ahluwalia, currently seen in the show Uff Ye Love Hai Mushkil, opened up about his 25-year journey in the entertainment industry. He revealed that time raced by so quickly he “didn’t really realize how it flew,” insisting it felt more like living a dream than slogging through a career.

In an exclusive conversation, he reflected on career highs, family life, and why he stays picky about scripts. Excerpts… Shabir says that it feels like anything but 25 years in the industry. “Because you know when you are working and you don’t really realize how time flies by and it just feels like a dream. It feels like I am living my dream, I am doing what I love the most. The only time I get to know it’s 25 is when I am doing this interview,” says the Kumkum Bhagya actor,” adding that he has been fortunate to not have had many lows in his career so far.

“By God’s grace there have always been high phases where there is a lot to do in my career so far. I always got good work, and that’s a blessing. Sometimes a lot of actors do have to compromise on the quality of work because of the right kind of work not coming their way. But in that aspect, God has been very kind. So, when I work, I work a lot and when I am not working in between projects, I am just kind of taking it so easy.

Everything that I used to do since I was a child, I am still doing it.

With my family, I am playing sports, I am travelling with them, I am just living my dream.”Despite being in the industry since so long. Shabir is one of those few actors still playing lead in shows. “There are lots of good actors around and there is lots of good work that is happening with different kind of actors across the medium and just to be one of them is really amazing. And I think the biggest advantage is for you to have the power to say no in projects that you don’t believe in.

So, I do play the waiting game just to exercise that power.

In a way, that I do projects that I believe in rather than just being a part of a project because it’s coming your way,” says Shabir.On the current state of affairs on the small screen where TV shows are being pulled off air midway frequently, Shabir is of the belief that the problem is not specific to TV but across all entertainment mediums. “What is happening is that the amount of choice that a person has for content is incredible.

The consumption of entertainment in terms of consumption of content has changed. People, I don’t think are now patient enough, and they don’t want to really sample as much unless they know that this is right,” he says adding that it is not something that will last.

“I think it’s a passing phase. Not just television, but everyone needs to really pull their socks off in terms of the content they are creating. You must be very, very sure about what you are making.

Substandard concepts will not be consumed by viewers anymore, the way it probably would be sometime back. Makers are coming up with good content but not on TV anymore. Yes, a lot of shows are being pulled off air and in the last 2-3 years I don’t think a show has really lasted that long but if a show is good, It will have takers and it will run. The viewer has so many options today that the show must be a cut above the rest for it to really work,” he says.

Being a father and a husband Shabir says he does the draw the line in the kind of content he is portraying on screen. “You know when you read a script as to what is nonsense and what is the requirement of a story. So, I’m okay for a character to be extreme but I’m not okay for a character to do just anything on screen just because it is OTT. If you talk about like a kissing scene, going intimate, everybody says that it’s a requirement of the script, but as an actor when you read a script you know whether this is important or not.

So, when it’s not important, you know that this project is only being made for sleaze. That’s not something that I’m cool with,” he says.

A handsome father to two sons, Shabir says he actually wanted a daughter when his wife Kanchi was expecting. “I have two wonderful boys though when they were conceived, I desperately wanted a girl. Obviously, you miss having a daughter but having said that, my boys are making up for the daughter’s part as well.

The only way fatherhood has changed me is that now I have started playing even more sports and my wife, Kanchi has a handful with us three around.

But even she is into a lot of sports now,” he says. Shabir is also not too much of a fan of social media and says he is more on a ‘man of the moment’. He says, “I don’t come from that school of thought that it’s important for an actor to be active on social media. Posting regularly on social media about my personal life doesn’t come naturally to me. I prefer living the moment and so I don’t know how to capture the moment. For the makers, choosing actors based on the number of followers, maybe you’ll find a gem of an actor, maybe not! So, each to its own.

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